SVB Wealth LLC Reduces Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

SVB Wealth LLC reduced its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 25.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,659 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 5,379 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Strategic Advisors LLC raised its position in American Express by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 5,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its holdings in American Express by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 4,894 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $917,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in American Express by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,566 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 23,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC now owns 4,181 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price on American Express from $229.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $221.00 target price (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. HSBC upped their price target on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut American Express from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $212.00 to $222.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $201.62.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $217.62 on Thursday. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $231.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The stock has a market cap of $157.53 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $219.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.58.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16 billion. American Express had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 30.99%. The company’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that American Express will post 12.83 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.18%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.98%.

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.