Aviance Capital Partners LLC Has $3.96 Million Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC raised its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,590 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in American Express in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. raised its holdings in American Express by 42.2% during the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on AXP. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $285.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 12-month low of $161.73 and a 12-month high of $296.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $273.01 and a 200-day moving average of $251.72.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s 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 approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade 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 is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.