Prospera Financial Services Inc Sells 45 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Prospera Financial Services Inc cut its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,917 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 45 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AXP. Bank of America lifted their target price on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $293.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $206.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 52-week low of $162.85 and a 52-week high of $296.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company’s 50 day moving average is $275.24 and its 200 day moving average is $252.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced 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. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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