D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 2,143 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

D.A. Davidson & CO. cut its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 32,859 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 2,143 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in American Express were worth $8,911,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $305.60 on Wednesday. American Express has a 12-month low of $163.32 and a 12-month high of $306.97. The company has a market cap of $215.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.21. 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’s 50 day moving average is $277.77 and its 200 day moving average is $254.26.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. American Express’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

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.