Ghe LLC Takes $4.50 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Ghe LLC purchased a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 16,574 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,495,000. American Express accounts for approximately 1.9% of Ghe LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 119.6% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its holdings in American Express by 2,196.4% in the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after buying an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 49.0% in 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 buying an additional 91,760 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 33.1% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 54,318 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,368,000 after buying an additional 13,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 41.3% in the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. TD Cowen raised their price target 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. BTIG Research downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. 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 research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Compass Point assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

American Express Stock Up 0.3 %

AXP traded up $0.92 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $289.43. 137,714 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,898,963. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $270.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $250.23. American Express has a 1 year low of $156.03 and a 1 year high of $296.83.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

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.