Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC Takes $223,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 821 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 119.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,993,000 after buying an additional 21,508 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in American Express by 102.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after acquiring an additional 6,329 shares during the period. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,881,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group lifted its position in American Express by 2,196.4% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 7,885 shares during the period. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its stake in shares of American Express by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,143,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AXP. Barclays upped their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen increased their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on 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, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $269.96 on Friday. American Express has a 1 year low of $141.02 and a 1 year high of $286.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $263.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $244.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.24, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

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.