Shum Financial Group Inc. Makes New $260,000 Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Shum Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 943 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Avestar Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 4,886 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,325,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of American Express by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,254 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $882,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after buying an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,170,447 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $317,261,000 after buying an additional 122,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in American Express by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 6,652 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $1.35 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $303.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 292,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,891,507. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $276.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $253.82. American Express has a 52 week low of $163.32 and a 52 week high of $306.97.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AXP. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. BTIG Research lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.