GSA Capital Partners LLP Raises Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,655 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP’s holdings in American Express were worth $720,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AXP. XML Financial LLC boosted its position in American Express by 9.8% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 119.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,993,000 after buying an additional 21,508 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its position in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% in the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after buying an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 33.1% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 54,318 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $12,368,000 after acquiring an additional 13,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in American Express by 41.3% during the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $162,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AXP. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, 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. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Down 0.5 %

AXP stock opened at $286.87 on Monday. American Express has a 52 week low of $157.97 and a 52 week high of $296.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $272.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $251.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend 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%.

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.