Virtu Financial LLC Invests $1.30 Million in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,781 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. XML Financial LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in American Express by 4.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,012 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $177,097,000 after acquiring an additional 28,371 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 239,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $64,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,912 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research 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 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Compass Point boosted their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $259.45.

American Express Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE AXP opened at $300.29 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.54 billion, a PE ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a one year low of $170.15 and a one year high of $307.82. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $285.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $258.92. 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 issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.39 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related 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 in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 in the last ninety days. 0.11% of the stock is owned by 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.