Abbrea Capital LLC Sells 60 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Abbrea Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,042 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 60 shares during the period. Abbrea Capital LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in American Express by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,037,387,000 after purchasing an additional 41,443 shares during the period. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd raised its position in shares of American Express by 1.9% during the third quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 3,572,743 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $533,018,000 after buying an additional 67,575 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,800,045 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $268,549,000 after buying an additional 102,977 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of American Express by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,574,663 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $294,856,000 after acquiring an additional 102,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in American Express by 1.5% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,480,157 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $220,825,000 after acquiring an additional 21,876 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE AXP traded down $2.02 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $237.10. 3,327,301 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,198,066. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $240.55. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $221.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.53. The company has a market cap of $170.55 billion, a PE ratio of 19.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 210,920 shares of company stock valued at $45,804,652 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on AXP shares. Stephens raised shares of American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group raised their price objective on American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.52.

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.