Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Sells 521 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC reduced its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 0.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 431,530 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 521 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned about 0.06% of American Express worth $116,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,924,000 after buying an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in American Express by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,633 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $781,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 11,275 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in American Express by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,756 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, MONECO Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price 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. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, BTIG Research cut their target price on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. One research 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.05.

American Express Stock Up 0.4%

American Express stock opened at $299.73 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $209.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $284.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.56. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were 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 owns 10,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% 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.