Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Purchases 347 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 39.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,231 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in American Express were worth $334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. increased its stake in shares of American Express by 42.2% in the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Founders Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the second quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen increased their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

American Express Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE AXP opened at $288.30 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $270.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $250.49. American Express has a twelve month low of $157.00 and a twelve month high of $296.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $203.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.21.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 0.97%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

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.