First Horizon Advisors Inc. Has $2.89 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 32.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,655 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,608 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.'s holdings in American Express were worth $2,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth $14,425,000. Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 12.0% in the third quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 1,834 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth $27,000. West Family Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 62.6% in the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,842 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Second Half Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth $270,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded up $5.56 during trading on Thursday, reaching $293.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,540,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,897,043. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.59 billion, a PE ratio of 21.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 52 week low of $162.85 and a 52 week high of $296.83. The business's 50-day moving average price is $275.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $252.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is 20.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $253.09.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.