Godsey & Gibb Inc. Sells 131 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Godsey & Gibb Inc. lowered its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,096 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 131 shares during the quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $312.51 on Thursday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $177.81 and a fifty-two week high of $313.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $297.91 and a 200 day moving average of $270.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market cap of $220.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.09.

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.