Chemung Canal Trust Co. Sells 1,589 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Chemung Canal Trust Co. decreased its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,961 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,589 shares during the period. American Express makes up 1.3% of Chemung Canal Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Chemung Canal Trust Co.’s holdings in American Express were worth $6,221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Auxier Asset Management raised its holdings in American Express by 0.5% in the third quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC raised its stake in American Express by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in American Express by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,203,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in American Express by 2.7% in the third quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $320.87 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $301.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $274.06. American Express has a 12 month low of $186.43 and a 12 month high of $326.27. 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 company has a market cap of $226.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. As a group, analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen increased their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price target on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $281.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% 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.