Private Trust Co. NA Raises Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,652 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the quarter. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,804,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in American Express by 1.3% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 41,569 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $11,274,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $217,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its position in shares of American Express by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,824 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,308,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 147,573 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $40,022,000 after purchasing an additional 7,258 shares during the period. Finally, Marco Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.6% in the third quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 73,704 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $19,989,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE AXP opened at $305.37 on Tuesday. American Express has a one year low of $163.32 and a one year high of $305.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $276.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $253.82. The company has a market capitalization of $215.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.21.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.