Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Sells 316 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. cut its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,651 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 316 shares during the quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in American Express by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,213 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $5,405,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Express by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 8,259 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,573,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC increased its position in American Express by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 3,825 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,135,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC raised its stake in American Express by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its holdings in American Express by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 4,883 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,449,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.09.

American Express Stock Up 1.4 %

AXP opened at $322.48 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $300.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $273.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $184.81 and a fifty-two week high of $322.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.73, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

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.