J. W. Coons Advisors LLC Sells 135 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

J. W. Coons Advisors LLC lowered its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,607 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 135 shares during the period. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aljian Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $884,000. Claro Advisors LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,209 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 247.8% during the third quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 8,694 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,358,000 after buying an additional 6,194 shares in the last quarter. Adero Partners LLC raised its stake in American Express by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 4,944 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,341,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 23.9% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 4,526 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after buying an additional 873 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $286.87 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $272.31 and a 200 day moving average of $251.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.21. 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 52-week low of $157.97 and a 52-week high of $296.83.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced 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 net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

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.