FSA Wealth Management LLC Makes New $66,000 Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 243 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. Auxier Asset Management boosted its stake in American Express by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.7% during the third quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 2.5% during the third quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its position in shares of American Express by 10.5% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Sawgrass Asset Management LLC increased its position in American Express by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 10,384 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,404,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. TD Cowen boosted 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. HSBC cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $304.68 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $280.04 and a 200-day moving average of $255.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a 12-month low of $165.93 and a 12-month high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors 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 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

About American Express

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.