Hall Laurie J Trustee Sells 320 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Hall Laurie J Trustee reduced its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 25.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 944 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 320 shares during the quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee’s holdings in American Express were worth $280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on AXP shares. Compass Point lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. 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 report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other 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 transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of AXP opened at $312.75 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 52-week low of $177.81 and a 52-week high of $315.40. The firm has a market cap of $220.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s fifty day moving average is $299.26 and its 200-day moving average is $271.98.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued 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 return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

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.