American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Planning Capital Management Corp

Planning Capital Management Corp reduced its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 70.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 130 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 304 shares during the quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp’s holdings in American Express were worth $35,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the third quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC now owns 28,917 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $7,842,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in American Express by 4.6% during the third quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 23,437 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $6,350,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Cable Hill Partners LLC lifted its position in American Express by 4.5% during the third quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $987,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. D Orazio & Associates Inc. lifted its position in American Express by 14.5% during the third quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 1,035 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its position in American Express by 1.7% during the third quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 3,321 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $901,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $288.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $203.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $270.73 and a 200-day moving average of $250.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a 52 week low of $157.00 and a 52 week high of $296.83.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays upped their price target 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. BTIG Research lowered 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

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.