Somerset Trust Co Sells 50 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Somerset Trust Co decreased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 721 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Somerset Trust Co’s holdings in American Express were worth $214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 430.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after buying an additional 3,867 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 9.8% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI grew its stake in American Express by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $25,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,557 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% in the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 7,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of American Express by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $655,137,000 after purchasing an additional 247,864 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen increased their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $278.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, 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 transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $312.75 on Friday. American Express has a 12-month low of $177.81 and a 12-month high of $315.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $298.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $271.18. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.48 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.60%.

American Express Company 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.