Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 1,109 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lessened its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,346 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,109 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in American Express were worth $9,586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. increased its position in American Express by 42.2% during the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. 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 report on Monday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, HSBC cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $244.58.

American Express Trading Down 0.3 %

AXP stock traded down $0.74 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $271.66. 107,122 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,920,572. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. American Express has a one year low of $141.02 and a one year high of $286.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.41 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $262.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $244.73.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

American Express Company 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.