American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Acquired by Summit Trail Advisors LLC

Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,906 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 1,036 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $301.30 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1 year low of $163.32 and a 1 year high of $301.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $276.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $253.23. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents 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 sale, 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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.