CX Institutional Sells 3,528 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

CX Institutional decreased its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,307 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 3,528 shares during the quarter. CX Institutional’s holdings in American Express were worth $10,776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of American Express by 105.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,000 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 19,400 shares during the period. AlTi Global Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 175.6% in the second quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 9,424 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,182,000 after purchasing an additional 6,005 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 31.2% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 109,198 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $25,285,000 after acquiring an additional 25,937 shares during the last quarter. Elgethun Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 18,218 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,218,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dundas Partners LLP boosted its stake in American Express by 1.0% in the second quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 167,619 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,812,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $316.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $222.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.27, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $300.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $273.70. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $186.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays raised their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Compass Point upped their target price on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.09.

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.