Integrated Investment Consultants LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Integrated Investment Consultants LLC lowered its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,743 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 179 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 156.2% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 52,957 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $12,262,000 after acquiring an additional 32,287 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 5.9% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,301 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,228,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 13.3% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 27,929 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $6,467,000 after acquiring an additional 3,273 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 26,607 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $6,161,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 217.0% during the second quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,804 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $881,000 after acquiring an additional 2,604 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $312.75 on Friday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $177.81 and a fifty-two week high of $315.40. The company has a market capitalization of $220.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $299.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $271.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.48 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on AXP. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $278.09.

American Express 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.