Virtu Financial LLC Invests $1.30 Million in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,781 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at $1,031,000. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,792 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 22.1% during the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,326 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.7% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 13,794 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,741,000 after buying an additional 870 shares during the period. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 13.0% in the third quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,002 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,195,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $300.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $285.30 and its 200-day moving average is $258.92. The company has a market cap of $211.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52-week low of $170.15 and a 52-week high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released 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 firm 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 posted $3.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.39 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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. Insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America lifted their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen upped their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $259.45.

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.