Geode Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 86,100 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.63% of American Express worth $3,104,735,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in American Express by 3.6% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,909,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group bought a new position in American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at about $319,000. Maia Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 2nd quarter worth about $286,000. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the second quarter valued at approximately $199,000. Finally, PGGM Investments raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 22.2% in the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 66,542 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $15,408,000 after buying an additional 12,094 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $296.77 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $284.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $258.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.84, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12-month low of $167.77 and a 12-month high of $307.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. Analysts predict that American Express will post 13.39 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Four equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $256.95.

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.