GoalVest Advisory LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

GoalVest Advisory LLC lowered its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 50.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 162 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 164 shares during the quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $48,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Auxier Asset Management raised its position in American Express by 0.5% in the third quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its holdings in American Express by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in American Express by 2.7% during the third quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE AXP opened at $322.48 on Thursday. 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 has a 52 week low of $184.81 and a 52 week high of $322.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $227.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.73, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a fifty day moving average of $300.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $273.36.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’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 owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Compass Point raised their price objective on American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price 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. Finally, HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $278.09.

American Express 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.