American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Community Bank N.A.

Community Bank N.A. lessened its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,997 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. XML Financial LLC grew its stake in American Express by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised 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 buying an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $162,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,012 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $177,097,000 after acquiring an additional 28,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 2.1% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 501,226 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $135,832,000 after acquiring an additional 10,364 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $304.68 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 52 week low of $165.93 and a 52 week high of $307.82. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $280.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $255.61. 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 issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that American Express will post 13.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America boosted their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Four 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

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.