First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Buys 3,319 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 15.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,243 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 3,319 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in American Express were worth $6,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Express by 119.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,993,000 after purchasing an additional 21,508 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 102.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after buying an additional 6,329 shares during the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in American Express in the first quarter worth approximately $1,881,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 49.0% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 279,106 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $63,550,000 after acquiring an additional 91,760 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AXP. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. HSBC downgraded 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 report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock traded up $3.69 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $274.12. 725,861 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,913,938. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. American Express has a 12-month low of $143.07 and a 12-month high of $286.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $264.58 and its 200 day moving average is $246.51. The company has a market cap of $193.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The business’s revenue 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 expect that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.