Synovus Financial Corp Buys 856 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,491 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 856 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in American Express were worth $6,370,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 26,783.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,467,210,000 after acquiring an additional 906,353 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 924.2% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $197,149,000 after purchasing an additional 768,301 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $185,079,000 after purchasing an additional 681,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in American Express by 71.9% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $269,547,000 after purchasing an additional 486,755 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $302.19 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $286.46 and a 200-day moving average of $259.66. The stock has a market cap of $212.88 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. 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 fifty-two week low of $175.60 and a fifty-two week high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on AXP shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays increased their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. BTIG Research lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $259.45.

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.