American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Navellier & Associates Inc.

Navellier & Associates Inc. decreased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 44.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,900 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,526 shares during the quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in American Express by 95.6% in the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,812 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,006,000 after purchasing an additional 4,306 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter worth $175,000. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 9.1% during the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,046,904 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $238,370,000 after buying an additional 87,331 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 1.9 %

American Express stock opened at $293.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 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. American Express has a twelve month low of $162.85 and a twelve month high of $296.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $275.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $252.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted 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 company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Barclays upped their price objective 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 boosted their price objective on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.