Equity Investment Corp Has $68.39 Million Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Equity Investment Corp lessened its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 252,169 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 3,899 shares during the quarter. Equity Investment Corp’s holdings in American Express were worth $68,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aljian Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $884,000. Claro Advisors LLC increased its position in American Express by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,209 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC increased its position in American Express by 247.8% in the 3rd quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 8,694 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,358,000 after acquiring an additional 6,194 shares in the last quarter. Adero Partners LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 4,944 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,341,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Express by 23.9% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 4,526 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,228,000 after buying an additional 873 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America increased their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

American Express Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $286.87 on Monday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $157.97 and a fifty-two week high of $296.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.09 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $272.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $251.34.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced 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. 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 analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 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.