American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE trimmed its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 445,638 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 4,782 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE owned 0.06% of American Express worth $132,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on AXP. Compass Point dropped their target price on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $300.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $211.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.47, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $307.44 and a 200-day moving average of $286.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 52 week low of $214.51 and a 52 week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. 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.