Pavion Blue Capital LLC Has $8.89 Million Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Pavion Blue Capital LLC lessened its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,947 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 242 shares during the period. American Express makes up about 4.2% of Pavion Blue Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Pavion Blue Capital LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $8,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $295.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. American Express has a 52-week low of $212.48 and a 52-week high of $326.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $307.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $284.65. The stock has a market cap of $207.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

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.