Cypress Capital Group Purchases 45 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Cypress Capital Group raised its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,247 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in American Express were worth $609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 95.6% during the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,812 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,006,000 after purchasing an additional 4,306 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its position in American Express by 13.4% during the first quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth about $175,000. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in American Express by 9.1% during the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,046,904 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $238,370,000 after acquiring an additional 87,331 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $293.27 on Friday. American Express has a 12-month low of $162.85 and a 12-month high of $296.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $275.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $252.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AXP. BTIG Research downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised 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. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.