Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. Buys New Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 894 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in American Express by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,104,735,000 after buying an additional 86,100 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in American Express by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in American Express by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,249,415,000 after purchasing an additional 239,173 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in American Express by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,074,168,000 after purchasing an additional 33,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in American Express by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,682,959 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $456,418,000 after purchasing an additional 7,676 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded up $2.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $302.65. 480,702 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,851,165. American Express has a 1-year low of $175.60 and a 1-year high of $307.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $285.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $259.21. 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 firm has a market cap of $213.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. American Express’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % 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. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $259.45.

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.