Palisade Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Palisade Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,665 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter worth $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Stock Up 2.8 %

AXP stock opened at $301.21 on Friday. American Express has a twelve month low of $163.32 and a twelve month high of $301.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $212.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $276.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $253.10.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict 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. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.93%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’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 approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AXP. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

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.