Marco Investment Management LLC Acquires 440 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Marco Investment Management LLC boosted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 73,704 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 440 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up about 1.7% of Marco Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $19,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. XML Financial LLC raised its position in American Express by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its position in 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 buying an additional 21,508 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its position in American Express by 2,196.4% in 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 buying an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its position in American Express by 41.3% in the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position 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 valued at $37,537,000 after buying an additional 113,249 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $301.30 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $276.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $253.23. The company has a market capitalization of $212.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1 year low of $163.32 and a 1 year high of $301.92. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. 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 0.93%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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 report on Tuesday, October 8th. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.