Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Lowers Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. cut its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 545,605 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 12,665 shares during the quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. owned approximately 0.08% of American Express worth $147,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $453,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 219.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 164,861 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $37,537,000 after buying an additional 113,249 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 119.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,993,000 after acquiring an additional 21,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the first quarter valued at $228,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays increased their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

American Express Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE AXP opened at $304.25 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $214.33 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 12 month low of $163.61 and a 12 month high of $307.82. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $279.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $254.96. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last issued its 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. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

About 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.