American Express (NYSE:AXP) Holdings Boosted by Iron Gate Global Advisors LLC

Iron Gate Global Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 164,163 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,717 shares during the period. American Express comprises approximately 6.9% of Iron Gate Global Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Iron Gate Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $44,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. 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 worth $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in American Express by 5.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,249,415,000 after acquiring an additional 239,173 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,074,168,000 after acquiring an additional 33,193 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in American Express by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,682,959 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $456,418,000 after acquiring an additional 7,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its position in American Express by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,629,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $441,915,000 after purchasing an additional 54,958 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. HSBC downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $302.21 on Tuesday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $280.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $255.61. American Express has a 1-year low of $165.93 and a 1-year high of $307.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.23.

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, 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 firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

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.