MAI Capital Management Sells 714 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

MAI Capital Management decreased its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 64,476 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 714 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management’s holdings in American Express were worth $17,486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aljian Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $884,000. Claro Advisors LLC raised its stake in American Express by 8.1% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,209 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $599,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC lifted its position in American Express by 247.8% during the third quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 8,694 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,358,000 after purchasing an additional 6,194 shares during the last quarter. Adero Partners LLC grew its stake in American Express by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 4,944 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,341,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 4,526 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,228,000 after buying an additional 873 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE AXP opened at $286.87 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $202.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $157.97 and a fifty-two week high of $296.83. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $272.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $251.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm’s 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. On average, analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.98%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

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.