American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Associated Banc Corp

Associated Banc Corp cut its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,217 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 148 shares during the quarter. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,957,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AXP. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring 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% during the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 768,301 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $185,079,000 after purchasing an additional 681,304 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in American Express by 71.9% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $269,547,000 after acquiring an additional 486,755 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $96,943,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express 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 sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $305.37 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $215.12 billion, a PE ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $163.32 and a fifty-two week high of $305.80. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $276.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $253.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results 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 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 business’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. TD Cowen increased their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

American Express Profile

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.