Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV Decreases Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV trimmed its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,649 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 106 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for approximately 1.6% of Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in American Express were worth $14,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in American Express by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC raised its position in American Express by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 992 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in American Express by 28.5% in the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,257 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Trust Co purchased a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter worth about $267,000. Finally, Retirement Planning Group LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 16.8% during the first quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 1,648 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total transaction of $7,671,326.85. Following the transaction, the insider owned 123,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,343,574.81. This represents a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE AXP opened at $330.10 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $320.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $298.24. The stock has a market cap of $229.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.29. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $349.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $327.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $319.95.

American Express 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.