DF Dent & Co. Inc. Sells 50 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. cut its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,105 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $303.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $214.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52 week low of $167.57 and a 52 week high of $307.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $283.49 and a 200 day moving average of $257.61.

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 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AXP. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

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.