American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by GSA Capital Partners LLP

GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,655 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP’s holdings in American Express were worth $720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. raised its holdings 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 last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth $48,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $286.87 on Monday. American Express has a twelve month low of $157.97 and a twelve month high of $296.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.21. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $272.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $251.34.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, 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 value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. HSBC cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

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.