American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by TCTC Holdings LLC

TCTC Holdings LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,282 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 152 shares during the quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 14,402 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 12,773 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,791,000 after buying an additional 846 shares in the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA grew its holdings in American Express by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 7,203 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,138,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $145,000. Finally, Signature Wealth Management Group grew its holdings in American Express by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group now owns 8,987 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,667,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Trading Up 3.7 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $266.04 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $301.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $288.41. The company has a market capitalization of $186.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 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 announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. HSBC upped their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $299.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.