Avantra Family Wealth Inc. Sells 43 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Avantra Family Wealth Inc. decreased its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,006 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 43 shares during the period. Avantra Family Wealth Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Meitav Investment House Ltd. raised its stake in American Express by 30.5% in the second quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 30,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $9,618,000 after buying an additional 7,054 shares during the period. Defined Financial Planning LLC raised its stake in American Express by 15.4% in the second quarter. Defined Financial Planning LLC now owns 921 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 3.0% during the second quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,279,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 38.0% during the second quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 2,430 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $775,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares during the period. Finally, Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV increased its stake in shares of American Express by 4.3% during the second quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 8,530 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,721,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AXP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on American Express from $311.00 to $362.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $321.90.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total value of $37,034,041.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 92,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,614,306.60. This trade represents a 54.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total value of $5,011,520.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,653,764.83. This represents a 65.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $331.93 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $230.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.29. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $349.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $320.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $299.06.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.02%.

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.