Advisors Asset Management Inc. Sells 7,078 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 5.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 132,198 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 7,078 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for 0.7% of Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in American Express were worth $35,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 8.5% during 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 period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in American Express by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $485,525,000 after purchasing an additional 387,166 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,682,959 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $456,418,000 after purchasing an additional 7,676 shares in the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Express by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,629,480 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $441,915,000 after purchasing an additional 54,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its holdings in American Express by 2.2% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,270,814 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $343,437,000 after acquiring an additional 27,859 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock traded up $2.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $287.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,387,402 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,899,205. American Express has a twelve month low of $161.73 and a twelve month high of $296.83. The business has a fifty day moving average of $273.81 and a 200-day moving average of $252.10. The stock has a market cap of $202.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted 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. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. American Express's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.47 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, HSBC lowered American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $253.09.

American Express Company Profile

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.