Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Lowers Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,193,401 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 365,250 shares during the period. American Express accounts for about 0.7% of Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 1.31% of American Express worth $2,493,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in American Express in the third quarter worth about $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. BTIG Research lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $287.65 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $274.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $252.35. American Express has a 1 year low of $161.73 and a 1 year high of $296.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.64 billion, a PE ratio of 21.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

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.