Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Sells 57,844 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lowered its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 44.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 71,367 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 57,844 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $21,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Unified Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $886,000. Bravias Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $284,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,899 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,157,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 2,484 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC now owns 2,477 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $295.12 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $307.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $287.39. The stock has a market cap of $207.33 billion, a PE ratio of 21.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a 52 week low of $214.51 and a 52 week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.