Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC Sells 99 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC decreased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,300 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 99 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up approximately 1.3% of Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of 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 in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $304.25 on Friday. American Express has a 52-week low of $163.61 and a 52-week high of $307.82. The company has a market capitalization of $214.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $279.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $254.96. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last issued 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. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. American Express’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current 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 paid 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 0.92%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express 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 directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. 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 note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

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.