Heritage Investors Management Corp Sells 5,494 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Heritage Investors Management Corp reduced its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 168,986 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 5,494 shares during the quarter. American Express comprises about 1.5% of Heritage Investors Management Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Heritage Investors Management Corp’s holdings in American Express were worth $45,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $433,709,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 26,783.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,467,210,000 after buying an additional 906,353 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 924.2% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $197,149,000 after purchasing an additional 768,301 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $185,079,000 after purchasing an additional 681,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,923,399,000 after purchasing an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of American Express stock traded up $3.38 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $273.57. 100,518 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,898,372. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1-year low of $151.51 and a 1-year high of $286.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $266.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $248.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

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.