Mendel Capital Management LLC Buys 52 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Mendel Capital Management LLC raised its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,193 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Mendel Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $324,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. XML Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 9.8% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 119.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,993,000 after acquiring an additional 21,508 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its stake in American Express by 2,196.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 7,885 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in American Express by 33.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 13,520 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 41.3% in the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $162,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % 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 the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AXP. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $286.87 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a 12-month low of $157.97 and a 12-month high of $296.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $272.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $251.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 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 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 business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. American Express’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

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.