American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Acquired by Hilltop Holdings Inc.

Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,912 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 3,552 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in shares of American Express by 371.3% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 202,705 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $54,974,000 after acquiring an additional 159,694 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 6,630 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of American Express by 326.3% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 37,649 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $10,221,000 after purchasing an additional 28,817 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 3,912 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after buying an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $302.21 on Tuesday. 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 market cap of $212.89 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s fifty day moving average is $280.04 and its 200-day moving average is $255.61. American Express has a 1 year low of $165.93 and a 1 year high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued 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. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that American Express will post 13.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

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.