Insight Inv LLC Has $3.25 Million Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Insight Inv LLC trimmed its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,981 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up about 2.7% of Insight Inv LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Insight Inv LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Auxier Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 3.6% in the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in American Express by 2.7% in the third quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC increased its stake in American Express by 2.5% in the third quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 10.5% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com raised American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Four equities 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $256.95.

American Express Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $296.77 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $209.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 1 year low of $167.77 and a 1 year high of $307.82. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $284.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $258.17.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that American Express will post 13.39 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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.

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.