Raymond James Trust N.A. Cuts Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Raymond James Trust N.A. cut its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,346 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 386 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in American Express were worth $6,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. XML Financial LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 9.8% in the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 119.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,993,000 after acquiring an additional 21,508 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its holdings in American Express by 2,196.4% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 7,885 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in American Express by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $162,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in American Express by 219.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 164,861 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $37,537,000 after purchasing an additional 113,249 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

American Express Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $301.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $212.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1 year low of $163.32 and a 1 year high of $301.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $276.08 and a 200 day moving average of $253.10.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly 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 firm 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 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. 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 firm posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 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.