Carmel Capital Partners LLC Takes $231,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 851 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 119.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,993,000 after acquiring an additional 21,508 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 102.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,329 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% in the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after buying an additional 7,885 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in American Express by 49.0% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 279,106 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $63,550,000 after purchasing an additional 91,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 33.1% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 54,318 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,368,000 after acquiring an additional 13,520 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted 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 note on Monday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $287.60 on Friday. American Express has a 12-month low of $152.05 and a 12-month high of $296.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $268.64 and its 200-day moving average is $249.32. The company has a market capitalization of $202.60 billion, a PE ratio of 21.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

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.