Howe & Rusling Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Howe & Rusling Inc. boosted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 12.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,834 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $497,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. West Family Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. Second Half Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $270,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in American Express in the third quarter worth approximately $19,698,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its position in American Express by 2.4% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 32,323 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,766,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.7 %

American Express stock opened at $287.65 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $274.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $252.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $202.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 12 month low of $161.73 and a 12 month high of $296.83.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during 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 business’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. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Express will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, BTIG Research cut 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

Insider Activity

In other 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 owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.