Boston Common Asset Management LLC Cuts Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Boston Common Asset Management LLC cut its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 34,418 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 3,368 shares during the quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $10,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Stock Up 0.5 %

AXP traded up $1.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $312.91. 444,760 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,134,977. The firm has a market cap of $220.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12-month low of $177.81 and a 12-month high of $314.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $298.26 and a 200 day moving average of $270.90.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value 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. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.