American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Position Increased by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,055 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cumberland Partners Ltd bought a new stake in American Express during the first quarter worth approximately $455,000. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth $114,990,000. First Foundation Advisors grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 3,261 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $743,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth $272,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.0% during the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 1,744 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related 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 stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America lifted their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

American Express Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $288.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap 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 has a 1 year low of $157.00 and a 1 year high of $296.83. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $270.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

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, topping 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 company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.