Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 138,776 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,552 shares during the quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $37,636,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in American Express by 5.2% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 147,573 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $40,022,000 after purchasing an additional 7,258 shares during the period. Marco Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 73,704 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $19,989,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 9,415 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 3,197 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 11,906 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,229,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

Insider Activity

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $301.30 on Monday. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $276.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $253.35. The firm has a market cap of $212.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 12-month low of $163.32 and a 12-month high of $301.92.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during 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 revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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 of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

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.