American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Bought by West Family Investments Inc.

West Family Investments Inc. grew its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 62.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the quarter. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in American Express by 823.5% during the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 628 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth $459,000. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in American Express by 26.2% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 39,494 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,992,000 after purchasing an additional 8,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in American Express by 51.5% during the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 8,881 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,022,000 after purchasing an additional 3,020 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $280.34 on Tuesday. American Express has a 12-month low of $161.73 and a 12-month high of $296.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $273.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $251.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm 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%. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.47 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were 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 directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

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.