Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Grows Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,595 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $704,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Connable Office Inc. lifted its position in American Express by 0.4% during the third quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 12,606 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,419,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. King Wealth Management Group purchased a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at $216,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in American Express by 4.8% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 106,158 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $28,790,000 after purchasing an additional 4,906 shares in the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners lifted its position in American Express by 9.7% during the third quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 2,857 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $775,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its position in American Express by 15.9% during the third quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 9,852 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,672,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $286.80 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $272.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $251.09. 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 $157.97 and a 1-year high of $296.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.10, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.21.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given 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 0.98%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lifted their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.