Romano Brothers AND Company Acquires Shares of 800 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Romano Brothers AND Company bought a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 800 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. boosted its stake in American Express by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 10,627 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,882,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in American Express by 2.1% in the third quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,086 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,651,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,467,210,000 after buying an additional 906,353 shares in the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 8,639.9% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,559 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $6,660,000 after buying an additional 24,278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wallington Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $225,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $269.96 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $263.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $244.92. The firm has a market cap of $194.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a twelve month low of $141.02 and a twelve month high of $286.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.12% 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.