Hosking Partners LLP Cuts Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Hosking Partners LLP lessened its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 294,333 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 7,329 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up 3.4% of Hosking Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Hosking Partners LLP’s holdings in American Express were worth $87,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 36,719.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,011,790 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $300,289,000 after buying an additional 1,009,042 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Express by 35,213.7% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $86,002,000 after purchasing an additional 316,219 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in American Express by 73.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $191,842,000 after purchasing an additional 300,138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in American Express by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $655,137,000 after purchasing an additional 247,864 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup lifted their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” 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 given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Down 0.7 %

AXP stock opened at $294.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, 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. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $307.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $285.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given 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 was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.99%.

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.