American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC

Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,873 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 330 shares during the period. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Auxier Asset Management boosted its position in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 3.6% during the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. grew its position in American Express by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,203,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 12,017 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,567,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $320.87 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $302.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $275.17. 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 52 week low of $186.43 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The firm has a market cap of $226.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Barclays boosted their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Compass Point upped their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $282.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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. This trade represents a 48.26 % 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.

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.