American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Central Pacific Bank Trust Division

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division cut its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,825 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the period. American Express accounts for about 0.7% of Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 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. Bank of America boosted their price objective on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $268.95.

American Express Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of American Express stock traded up $4.22 on Friday, reaching $301.95. 776,271 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,341,587. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $177.81 and a fifty-two week high of $307.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $293.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $266.13.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.