American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Corient Private Wealth LLC

Corient Private Wealth LLC lessened its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,051,958 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 31,309 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC owned approximately 0.15% of American Express worth $311,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, HSBC increased their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine 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 $299.24.

American Express Trading Up 3.7 %

AXP opened at $266.04 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $186.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $301.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.20. American Express has a one year low of $214.51 and a one year high of $326.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.