Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Has $2.78 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,231 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 153 shares during the quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. boosted its stake 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 acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Founders Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Express Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $286.87 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $202.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a twelve month low of $157.97 and a twelve month high of $296.83. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $272.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $251.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI increased 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’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 transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.