American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Bought by Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 9.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,276 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 5,476 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp's holdings in American Express were worth $17,161,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Auxier Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,934,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in American Express by 2.7% during the third quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. HSBC lowered American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Compass Point lifted their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $259.45.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 that occurred on 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 owns 109,691 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Trading Up 0.6 %

AXP traded up $1.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $302.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,652,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,856,172. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a market cap of $212.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.23, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $285.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $259.21. American Express has a 52-week low of $175.60 and a 52-week high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate 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 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 payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

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.