Quest Partners LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Quest Partners LLC decreased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 81.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 719 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 3,172 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.5% in the third quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 10.5% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.4% in the second quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 10,384 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,404,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.5% in the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 1,227 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $304.28 on Thursday. American Express has a 12-month low of $163.61 and a 12-month high of $307.82. The stock has a market cap of $214.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.21. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $278.61 and a 200 day moving average of $254.61.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AXP. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents 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 stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were 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 directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.