American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Bought by Fmr LLC

FMR LLC lifted its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 8.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 866,110 shares during the quarter. FMR LLC owned about 1.56% of American Express worth $2,984,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth about $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. grew its position in American Express by 42.2% during the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company'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 directly owns 111,656 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP traded up $0.78 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $305.99. 1,486,064 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,897,027. American Express has a 52-week low of $163.32 and a 52-week high of $306.97. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $276.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $253.82. The company has a market cap of $215.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.47, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express's payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. TD Cowen upped their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. HSBC downgraded shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of American Express from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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.