Smith & Howard Wealth Management LLC Invests $233,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Smith & Howard Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 861 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,923,399,000 after acquiring an additional 662,382 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in American Express by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $590,940,000 after purchasing an additional 195,876 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its holdings in American Express by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $485,525,000 after purchasing an additional 387,166 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter worth $433,709,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of American Express by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,798,742 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $408,494,000 after purchasing an additional 224,079 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Compass Point began coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of 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 issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

American Express Stock Down 1.0 %

AXP opened at $267.23 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $263.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $245.39. The company has a market capitalization of $192.22 billion, a PE ratio of 22.01, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1-year low of $141.02 and a 1-year high of $286.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

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.