Rakuten Securities Inc. Boosts Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 564.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 585 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 497 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $8,993,000 after buying an additional 21,508 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its stake in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% during the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 7,885 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 49.0% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 279,106 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $63,550,000 after purchasing an additional 91,760 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 33.1% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 54,318 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,368,000 after purchasing an additional 13,520 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 41.3% during the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $162,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $293.05 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $269.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $249.86. American Express has a 52 week low of $153.50 and a 52 week high of $296.83. The company has a market capitalization of $206.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.21. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade 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 is available through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.