Gleason Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Gleason Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 340 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 69 shares during the period. Gleason Group Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 4.0% in the second quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,112 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Express by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,742 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $17,318,000 after acquiring an additional 1,944 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 87,648 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $20,295,000 after acquiring an additional 3,559 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 32.7% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 276,026 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $63,914,000 after acquiring an additional 68,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GDS Wealth Management raised its stake in American Express by 8.1% during the second quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 56,778 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $13,147,000 after purchasing an additional 4,249 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $297.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $209.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52-week low of $177.81 and a 52-week high of $307.82. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $297.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $270.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AXP. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. HSBC downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $277.82.

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.