First Horizon Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,579 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 76 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd 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 period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock opened at $295.23 on Monday. American Express has a one year low of $212.48 and a one year high of $326.27. The firm has a market cap of $207.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $307.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $285.04.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AXP. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. HSBC boosted their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. BTIG Research increased their price target on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

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.