Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Invests $1.18 Million in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,334 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,175,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. XML Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in American Express by 119.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,993,000 after purchasing an additional 21,508 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its holdings in American Express by 2,196.4% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in American Express by 219.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 164,861 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $37,537,000 after purchasing an additional 113,249 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. HSBC downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. TD Cowen raised their price target on 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 upped their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

Insider Activity at American Express

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

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $301.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $212.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $276.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $253.10. American Express has a 1 year low of $163.32 and a 1 year high of $301.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced 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. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 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.