American Express (NYSE:AXP) Position Reduced by Nvwm LLC

Nvwm LLC reduced its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,058 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 2,900 shares during the quarter. American Express comprises 1.1% of Nvwm LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Nvwm LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 26,783.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,467,210,000 after buying an additional 906,353 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 8.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $185,079,000 after acquiring an additional 681,304 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 35,213.7% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $86,002,000 after purchasing an additional 316,219 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in American Express by 73.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $191,842,000 after purchasing an additional 300,138 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Barclays lifted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

American Express Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $315.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a 1 year low of $203.42 and a 1 year high of $326.27. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $305.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $278.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 15.3 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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 $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 dividend yield of 0.89%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.