Blue Trust Inc. Trims Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Blue Trust Inc. trimmed its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 18.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,465 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,432 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Red Cedar Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Red Cedar Investment Management LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,264,000 after purchasing an additional 792 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 15,471 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,592,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. GFG Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. GFG Capital LLC now owns 10,407 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,089,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 432,051 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $128,228,000 after buying an additional 12,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vicus Capital increased its position in American Express by 63.8% in the 4th quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 1,913 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $568,000 after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $311.37 on Friday. American Express has a 1 year low of $209.10 and a 1 year high of $326.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $306.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $282.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.34 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HSBC increased their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Compass Point lowered their price objective on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% 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.