American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Acquired by Noesis Capital Mangement Corp

Noesis Capital Mangement Corp boosted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 103,625 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 4,122 shares during the period. American Express makes up approximately 5.6% of Noesis Capital Mangement Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp’s holdings in American Express were worth $28,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. increased its stake in American Express by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AXP. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America raised their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

American Express Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $304.28 on Thursday. American Express has a 12 month low of $163.61 and a 12 month high of $307.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a market cap of $214.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $278.61 and a 200-day moving average of $254.61.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict 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. Investors 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Company 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.