Second Half Financial Partners LLC Purchases New Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Second Half Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 997 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Founders Capital Management acquired a new stake in American Express during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Trading Down 1.8 %

AXP opened at $280.34 on Tuesday. American Express has a twelve month low of $161.73 and a twelve month high of $296.83. The company has a fifty day moving average of $273.01 and a 200-day moving average of $251.72. The stock has a market cap of $197.49 billion, a PE ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.47 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Four investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.