Fiduciary Trust Co Sells 812 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Fiduciary Trust Co reduced its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,034 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 812 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co’s holdings in American Express were worth $23,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its position in American Express by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.5% during the third quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners raised its position in shares of American Express by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 10,384 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,404,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its position in American Express by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 1,227 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America upped their price objective on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was 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 directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Down 0.4 %

AXP opened at $304.28 on Thursday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $163.61 and a fifty-two week high of $307.82. 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 $214.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $278.61 and its 200 day moving average is $254.61.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend 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.