Fiduciary Group LLC Sells 109 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Fiduciary Group LLC lowered its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,767 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 109 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Magnus Financial Group LLC grew its position in American Express by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $811,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,486 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $246,000. Intellectus Partners LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 8,396 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,573,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebrook Private Inc. purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $1,047,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.52.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock traded down $1.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $235.64. 2,993,335 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,154,841. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $240.55. The business’s 50-day moving average is $222.57 and its 200-day moving average is $191.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.50 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other American Express news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 210,920 shares of company stock worth $45,804,652 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.