Aljian Capital Management LLC Takes Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Aljian Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,260 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $884,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AXP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,923,399,000 after acquiring an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of American Express by 22.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $485,525,000 after buying an additional 387,166 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,682,959 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $456,418,000 after buying an additional 7,676 shares during the period. abrdn plc lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,270,814 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $343,437,000 after acquiring an additional 27,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in American Express by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,220,422 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $282,589,000 after acquiring an additional 23,487 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock traded down $1.33 on Monday, hitting $285.54. 2,074,429 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,903,232. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.15 billion, a PE ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1 year low of $161.73 and a 1 year high of $296.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $273.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $251.72.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.47 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. 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 (DPR) is 20.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. HSBC downgraded American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, July 22nd. Four investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $253.09.

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.