American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 669,541 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 57,036 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $181,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $325,000. Coastline Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.3% in the third quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 27,080 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $7,344,000 after acquiring an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 0.9% during the third quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,878 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,221,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 5.4% during the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,291 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,876,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $286.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $272.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $251.09. American Express has a 52-week low of $157.97 and a 52-week 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.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on AXP. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

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.