Tompkins Financial Corp Acquires 466 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Tompkins Financial Corp boosted its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 18.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,964 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp’s holdings in American Express were worth $880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in American Express during the third quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Compass Point lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.09.

American Express Stock Down 0.2 %

AXP stock opened at $311.69 on Friday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $177.81 and a fifty-two week high of $314.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $298.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $270.90.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.48 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related 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 transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were 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 $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.