Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Trims Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,495 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 736 shares during the quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $306.46 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $306.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1-year low of $207.61 and a 1-year high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Equities analysts predict that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

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.