Integrated Investment Consultants LLC Buys 165 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,922 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in American Express during the third quarter worth about $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management acquired a new stake in American Express during the second quarter worth about $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $293.27 on Friday. American Express has a twelve month low of $162.85 and a twelve 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 $206.59 billion, a PE ratio of 21.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $275.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $252.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.