Intellectus Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Intellectus Partners LLC cut its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,560 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 136 shares during the period. Intellectus Partners LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,050,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on AXP. Barclays boosted 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. Evercore ISI increased their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America raised their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $288.30 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $203.09 billion, a PE ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 52-week low of $157.00 and a 52-week high of $296.83. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $270.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $250.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express 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 transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.