Capital Square LLC Has $433,000 Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Capital Square LLC reduced its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 15.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,597 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 287 shares during the period. Capital Square LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 906,353 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its position 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 worth $197,149,000 after buying an additional 768,301 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 681,304 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of American Express by 71.9% during the 2nd 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 bought a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth $96,943,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP traded up $2.76 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $304.06. The stock had a trading volume of 366,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,889,135. The stock has a market cap of $214.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $276.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $253.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 12-month low of $163.32 and a 12-month high of $304.84.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on AXP shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective 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, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.