Bank of Hawaii Reduces Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Bank of Hawaii trimmed its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,995 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 207 shares during the period. Bank of Hawaii’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,626,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of several analyst reports. BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

American Express Trading Up 2.8 %

AXP stock opened at $301.30 on Monday. American Express has a twelve month low of $163.32 and a twelve month high of $301.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $276.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $253.35.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

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.