Trajan Wealth LLC Grows Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Trajan Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,615 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,792 shares during the quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.7% in the third quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 2.5% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its position in American Express by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 0.4% in the second quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 10,384 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,404,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 3.5% during the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 1,227 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on AXP shares. Barclays boosted their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Compass Point started coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $270.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $264.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $246.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. American Express has a 12 month low of $141.73 and a 12 month high of $286.36.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express 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.