First Horizon Advisors Inc. Has $2.89 Million Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 32.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,655 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,608 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,890,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 42.2% during the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $287.65 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $274.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $252.35. American Express has a 12-month low of $161.73 and a 12-month high of $296.83. 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 has a market capitalization of $202.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of 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 report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.