Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Sells 1,002 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. decreased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 99,625 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,002 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $29,568,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AXP. Reliant Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC now owns 26,084 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $7,741,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,060 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Express by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,627 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 5,074 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,506,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 9,446 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,804,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AXP. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $278.09.

American Express Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $312.75 on Tuesday. American Express has a 52 week low of $177.81 and a 52 week high of $315.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $299.26 and its 200 day moving average is $272.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.