Northcape Wealth Management LLC Has $1.05 Million Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Northcape Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,580 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 79 shares during the quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,045,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 23,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 417.3% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 415,696 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $77,876,000 after purchasing an additional 335,338 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $2,460,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,806 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,837,000 after purchasing an additional 2,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 1,313.2% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 768,769 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,440,210,000 after purchasing an additional 714,370 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at $12,248,905.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 203,891 shares of company stock worth $44,373,196. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday. DZ Bank lowered American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Stephens upgraded American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.52.

American Express Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded down $4.79 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $234.13. The stock had a trading volume of 3,562,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,206,016. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $240.55. The company has a market capitalization of $168.41 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $223.10 and its 200 day moving average is $192.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted 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. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid 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 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.06%.

About American Express

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.