Destination Wealth Management Cuts Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Destination Wealth Management lessened its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 119,582 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 3,707 shares during the quarter. Destination Wealth Management's holdings in American Express were worth $32,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in American Express during the third quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 over the last ninety days. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AXP. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. BTIG Research cut American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $259.45.

American Express Price Performance

AXP traded down $2.05 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $300.29. The stock had a trading volume of 1,668,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,861,196. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1 year low of $170.15 and a 1 year high of $307.82. The business has a fifty day moving average of $285.30 and a 200 day moving average of $258.92. The company has a market cap of $211.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. American Express's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

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.