American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Strategic Advocates LLC

Strategic Advocates LLC decreased its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 24.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,807 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 572 shares during the period. Strategic Advocates LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 105.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,000 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 19,400 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 978 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter worth $134,000. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in American Express during the second quarter worth about $332,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in American Express by 47.4% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,405 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $294.95.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Up 1.1 %

AXP stock opened at $318.84 on Friday. American Express has a 52 week low of $199.88 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $224.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $304.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $276.54.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. On average, analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

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.