Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc decreased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 11.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,540 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 5,595 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up about 2.8% of Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc's holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc's holdings in American Express were worth $11,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in American Express by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 5.5% in 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 valued at $1,249,415,000 after purchasing an additional 239,173 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 0.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,074,168,000 after purchasing an additional 33,193 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $456,418,000 after purchasing an additional 7,676 shares during the period. Finally, Smead Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in American Express by 3.5% in 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 buying an additional 54,958 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
NYSE AXP opened at $296.77 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $209.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $284.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $258.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a 12 month low of $167.77 and a 12 month high of $307.82.
American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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%. American Express's revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.39 EPS for the current year.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.94%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.
AXP has been the subject of several research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America raised their price objective on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $256.95.
View Our Latest Report on American Express
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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