WP Advisors LLC Sells 1,364 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

by · The Markets Daily

WP Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,364 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,364 shares during the period. American Express makes up about 1.6% of WP Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. WP Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 823.5% during the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 628 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the period. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $459,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 33.1% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 54,318 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,368,000 after purchasing an additional 13,520 shares during the period. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $213,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AXP. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

View Our Latest Report on American Express

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express 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 sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express 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 sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This 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 corporate insiders.

American Express Trading Down 0.5 %

AXP opened at $286.87 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a twelve month low of $157.97 and a twelve month high of $296.83. The stock 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 50-day simple moving average of $272.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $251.34.

American Express (NYSE:AXP – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Analysts predict that American Express will post 13.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

American Express Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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