American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Ingalls & Snyder LLC

Ingalls & Snyder LLC boosted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,607 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Auxier Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the third quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sawgrass Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 0.4% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.3 %

AXP traded up $0.99 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $303.25. 214,146 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,873,153. The firm has a market cap of $213.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12-month low of $165.93 and a 12-month high of $307.82. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $280.04 and a 200 day moving average of $255.61.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. Analysts predict that American Express will post 13.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.