Pitcairn Co. Has $2.13 Million Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Pitcairn Co. cut its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,860 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,207 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,467,210,000 after purchasing an additional 906,353 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its stake in shares of American Express by 924.2% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $197,149,000 after buying an additional 768,301 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $185,079,000 after acquiring an additional 681,304 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 71.9% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $269,547,000 after acquiring an additional 486,755 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $96,943,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $301.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $276.08 and a 200 day moving average of $253.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1-year low of $163.32 and a 1-year high of $301.92.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. 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 note on Monday, September 30th. BTIG Research lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.