PFG Investments LLC Cuts Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

PFG Investments LLC decreased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,679 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 570 shares during the quarter. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on AXP. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. HSBC increased their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $288.32.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $316.23 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $222.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.27, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 1-year low of $199.07 and a 1-year high of $326.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $302.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $275.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors 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 0.89%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

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.