Herbst Group LLC Cuts Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Herbst Group LLC lowered its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,136 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,905 shares during the quarter. American Express comprises approximately 2.2% of Herbst Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Herbst Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 156.2% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 52,957 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,262,000 after acquiring an additional 32,287 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 5.9% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,301 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,228,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 13.3% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 27,929 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $6,467,000 after buying an additional 3,273 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 26,607 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $6,161,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in American Express by 217.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,804 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $881,000 after acquiring an additional 2,604 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $312.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $299.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.73. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $177.81 and a fifty-two week high of $315.40. The firm has a market cap of $220.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.48 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. BTIG Research lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $278.09.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. Insiders own 0.11% 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.