Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Sells 66 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC decreased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,082 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 66 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $832,000. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 430.6% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after buying an additional 3,867 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH boosted its position in American Express by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 349,937 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $103,858,000 after buying an additional 12,364 shares during the last quarter. XML Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI raised its position in shares of American Express by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $25,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,557 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were 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 $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $273.13 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $191.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.50, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 12 month low of $214.51 and a 12 month high of $326.27. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $305.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $288.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. HSBC lifted their target price 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, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

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.