American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Bought by Claro Advisors LLC

Claro Advisors LLC grew its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 8.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,209 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 42.2% during the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at $46,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $286.87 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1 year low of $157.97 and a 1 year high of $296.83. The firm has a market cap of $202.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $272.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $251.34.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. Analysts predict that American Express will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

American Express Company Profile

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated payments company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and Internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services.