Webster Bank N. A. Sells 825 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Webster Bank N. A. decreased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,956 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 825 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in American Express by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 44,162 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $13,107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,510 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $835,000. Apexium Financial LP raised its stake in shares of American Express by 113.8% during the fourth quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 2,268 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $673,000 after acquiring an additional 1,207 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,438 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,831,000 after purchasing an additional 2,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $208,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $320.87 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $302.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $275.17. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $186.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27. The company has a market capitalization of $226.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. Analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $282.36.

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.