J. W. Coons Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

J. W. Coons Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,607 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 135 shares during the period. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 823.5% during the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 628 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth $234,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth approximately $459,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in American Express by 33.1% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 54,318 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,368,000 after buying an additional 13,520 shares during the period. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their target price 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. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

American Express Trading Down 0.5 %

AXP opened at $286.87 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $202.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 12 month low of $157.97 and a 12 month high of $296.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $272.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $251.34.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released 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. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.70 dividend. 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 0.98%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade 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 at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.