Soltis Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 22.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,326 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 421 shares during the quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $631,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Auxier Asset Management increased its stake in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.6% in the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its position in American Express by 2.7% during the third quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC raised its stake in 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 worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in American Express by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.1 %

AXP stock opened at $302.43 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $284.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $258.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $167.77 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.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. TD Cowen increased their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Compass Point boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $259.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value 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 represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.