IHT Wealth Management LLC Acquires 426 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,140 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ingalls & Snyder LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 8,607 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,334,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 34.0% during the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 24,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $6,628,000 after purchasing an additional 6,200 shares during the period. Iron Gate Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.1% in the third quarter. Iron Gate Global Advisors LLC now owns 164,163 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $44,521,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in American Express by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,074,168,000 after buying an additional 33,193 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays lifted their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 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 owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE AXP opened at $300.53 on Friday. American Express has a 12 month low of $167.18 and a 12 month high of $307.82. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $282.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $257.08. The stock has a market cap of $211.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company 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. 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 payout ratio is currently 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.