Western Wealth Management LLC Has $346,000 Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Western Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 86.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,165 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 7,362 shares during the quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $346,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AXP. BTIG Research cut their target price on American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

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

American Express Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of American Express stock opened at $285.32 on Friday. American Express has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $326.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $269.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.64.

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

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were paid a $0.82 dividend. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

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.