Jennison Associates LLC Has $5.27 Million Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Jennison Associates LLC cut its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 86.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,418 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 119,378 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in American Express by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC increased its position in American Express by 2.5% during the third quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners raised its stake in American Express by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 10,384 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,404,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its position in American Express by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 1,227 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $301.21 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $276.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $253.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a 12-month low of $163.32 and a 12-month high of $301.92.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced 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. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given 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 yield of 0.93%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on AXP. HSBC cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

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.