Arjuna Capital Sells 6,513 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Arjuna Capital reduced its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 27.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,879 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 6,513 shares during the period. American Express accounts for about 1.2% of Arjuna Capital's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Arjuna Capital's holdings in American Express were worth $4,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in American Express by 8.5% in the first 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 buying an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in American Express by 22.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $485,525,000 after buying an additional 387,166 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 last quarter. abrdn plc raised 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 buying an additional 27,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 2.0% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,220,422 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $282,589,000 after buying an additional 23,487 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock traded down $0.87 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $287.64. 2,117,575 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,907,961. The company has a market cap of $202.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.22, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $270.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $250.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a 12-month low of $156.03 and a 12-month high of $296.83.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. American Express's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Compass Point initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $253.09.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

American Express 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.