Balboa Wealth Partners Purchases 253 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Balboa Wealth Partners increased its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,857 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in American Express were worth $775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. boosted its position in American Express by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Founders Capital Management bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the third quarter valued at about $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Up 0.2 %

AXP opened at $288.30 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $270.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $250.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $157.00 and a fifty-two week high of $296.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business 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 of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Four equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.