Kingfisher Capital LLC Lowers Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Kingfisher Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 5.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,361 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,221 shares during the period. American Express comprises about 1.5% of Kingfisher Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Kingfisher Capital LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $6,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. XML Financial LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 9.8% in the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 119.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,993,000 after purchasing an additional 21,508 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its holdings in American Express by 2,196.4% during the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after buying an additional 7,885 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in American Express by 41.3% during the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in American Express by 219.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 164,861 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $37,537,000 after buying an additional 113,249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE AXP opened at $304.25 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $279.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $254.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a market cap of $214.33 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 52 week low of $163.61 and a 52 week high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.39 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.