Private Trust Co. NA Acquires 1,007 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,652 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $305.37 on Tuesday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $163.32 and a fifty-two week high of $305.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $276.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $253.82. 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 $215.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.47, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released 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 company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.