Tidal Investments LLC Grows Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 58.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,390 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,321 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $12,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in American Express in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position 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 valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. HSBC cut American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $259.45.

American Express Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of AXP traded up $1.99 on Friday, reaching $302.29. The stock had a trading volume of 956,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,853,192. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $285.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $259.21. American Express has a 12-month low of $175.60 and a 12-month high of $307.82. 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 (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. American Express's payout ratio is 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.