MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 5,826 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 155,614 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 5,826 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $42,203,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. boosted its holdings in American Express by 42.2% in the 2nd 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 during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management bought a new position in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth approximately $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America upped their target price on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

American Express Trading Up 0.4 %

AXP traded up $1.32 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $306.89. 79,234 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,887,807. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $277.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $254.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a 1-year low of $163.61 and a 1-year high of $307.82.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.