Ghe LLC Acquires New Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Ghe LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 16,574 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,495,000. American Express accounts for approximately 1.9% of Ghe LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 14.2% in the first quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 2,272 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $517,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.7% in the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,131 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $941,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Texas Yale Capital Corp. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.1% in the first quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 2,916 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $664,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Planning Directions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.6% in the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,178 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,367,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Compass Point started coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP traded up $0.92 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $289.43. The company had a trading volume of 137,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,898,963. The firm has a market cap of $203.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.24, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a fifty day moving average of $270.01 and a 200-day moving average of $250.23. American Express has a 12 month low of $156.03 and a 12 month high of $296.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. 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 firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is currently 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.