American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc.

Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. decreased its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,683 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE AXP opened at $297.33 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $297.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $270.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a one year low of $177.81 and a one year high of $307.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $277.82.

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.