Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $221,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 814 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 42.2% during 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 in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Founders Capital Management acquired a new position in American Express during the 2nd quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction 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 $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $286.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.09 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 52-week low of $157.97 and a 52-week high of $296.83. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $272.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $251.20. 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 released its 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. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

About American Express

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.