Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc Sells 5,595 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc cut its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,540 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 5,595 shares during the period. American Express accounts for 2.8% of Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc’s holdings in American Express were worth $11,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in American Express by 3.6% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,909,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group bought a new position in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth approximately $319,000. Maia Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the second quarter valued at approximately $286,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the second quarter valued at approximately $199,000. Finally, PGGM Investments grew its position in American Express by 22.2% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 66,542 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $15,408,000 after buying an additional 12,094 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $296.77 on Tuesday. American Express has a 12 month low of $167.77 and a 12 month high of $307.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $284.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $258.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. Analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $256.95.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.