Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,833 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. XML Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 9.8% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 119.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,993,000 after acquiring an additional 21,508 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its position in American Express by 2,196.4% in the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 7,885 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 41.3% during the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $162,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of American Express by 219.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 164,861 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $37,537,000 after purchasing an additional 113,249 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $285.54 on Tuesday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $273.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $251.72. The company has a market cap of $201.15 billion, a PE ratio of 21.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $161.73 and a fifty-two week high of $296.83.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. BTIG Research lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

Insider Activity

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were 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. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% 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.