American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC decreased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 40,671 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 2,086 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $12,071,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in American Express by 105.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,000 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 19,400 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in American Express by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 22,983 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $6,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857 shares in the last quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $228,000. JGP Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $234,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 330.7% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 4,522 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 3,472 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on AXP shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen increased their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $316.72 on Friday. American Express has a twelve month low of $207.61 and a twelve month high of $326.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $223.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $306.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $279.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.