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

Pathstone Holdings LLC lowered its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 110,511 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 2,734 shares during the quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $32,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.05.

American Express Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of American Express stock opened at $302.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $211.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $264.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $287.55. American Express has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.33 earnings per share. Analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.