American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Position Reduced by TCI Wealth Advisors Inc.

TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,686 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 475 shares during the period. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $878,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of American Express by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,037,387,000 after buying an additional 41,443 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in American Express by 6.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,800,045 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $268,549,000 after acquiring an additional 102,977 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings 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 valued at $294,856,000 after purchasing an additional 102,132 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of American Express by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,480,157 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $220,825,000 after purchasing an additional 21,876 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $210,540,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.71.

American Express Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $1.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $230.77. The company had a trading volume of 3,203,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,577,762. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $224.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.88. 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 $165.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. 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 business posted $2.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company 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 $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 value of $2,342,945.22. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 203,891 shares of company stock valued at $44,373,196 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.