Country Trust Bank Lowers Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Country Trust Bank cut its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,766 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 15,407 shares during the quarter. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in American Express were worth $30,797,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of American Express by 105.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,000 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 19,400 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 5.0% in the second quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 978 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the second quarter valued at approximately $134,000. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $332,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 47.4% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,405 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $294.95.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $318.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a twelve month low of $199.88 and a twelve month high of $326.27. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $304.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $276.84. The firm has a market cap of $224.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 19.99%.

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.