Patten & Patten Inc. TN Lowers Stake in American Express Company $AXP

Patten & Patten Inc. TN cut its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,040 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AXP. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the first quarter worth about $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the first quarter worth about $37,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the second quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the first quarter worth about $41,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on AXP. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on shares of American Express and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $323.60.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total transaction of $5,011,520.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,653,764.83. The trade was a 65.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total transaction of $15,475,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 10,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,391,191.50. This trade represents a 82.03% 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 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $323.60 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $324.66 and a 200 day moving average of $301.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 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.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate 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. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.02%.

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.