American Express (NYSE:AXP) Short Interest Update

American Express (NYSE:AXP) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,350,000 shares, a drop of 5.5% from the September 30th total of 8,840,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,750,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Express

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 10,384 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,404,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew 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 acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $272.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $192.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.21. 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 one year low of $148.33 and a one year high of $286.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $266.02 and its 200 day moving average is $247.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly 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 prior year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Compass Point initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

American Express Company 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.