IRON Financial LLC Invests $214,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

IRON Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 789 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 153.3% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 41,413 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $11,231,000 after buying an additional 25,062 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in American Express by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 450,420 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $122,154,000 after acquiring an additional 6,456 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 0.7% during the third quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 15,925 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,128,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 7.9% in the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,484 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $674,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at $216,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Compass Point initiated coverage on American Express in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

American Express Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of American Express stock traded down $4.35 on Thursday, hitting $269.73. The stock had a trading volume of 537,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,909,580. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $265.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $246.71. American Express has a one year low of $143.07 and a one year high of $286.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market cap of $190.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21.

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. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.60%.

About American Express

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.