Accredited Investors Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Accredited Investors Inc. grew its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 23.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,526 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 873 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,228,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth $272,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in American Express by 415.0% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 15,317 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,488,000 after purchasing an additional 12,343 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 823.5% in the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 628 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the period. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $234,000. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $459,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $286.87 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $272.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $251.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a one year low of $157.97 and a one year high of $296.83. The company has a market cap of $202.09 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, 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 insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AXP. Barclays increased their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI increased their target price 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. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

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.