Pacer Advisors Inc. Buys 1,098 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,652 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 1,098 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $11,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 9.4% in the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 1,922 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $521,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group raised its position in American Express by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 2,247 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,175,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 126.6% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 119,999 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $32,544,000 after purchasing an additional 67,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 13.4% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 588,748 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $159,668,000 after buying an additional 69,360 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. 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 note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $301.30 on Friday. American Express has a 12-month low of $163.32 and a 12-month high of $301.92. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $276.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $253.23. 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 market cap of $212.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.17, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. American Express’s payout ratio is 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.