Procyon Advisors LLC Has $981,000 Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,239 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 118,198.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,732,068 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,028,913,000 after buying an additional 13,720,460 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $911,554,000. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $210,540,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 162.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,961,999 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $289,885,000 after buying an additional 1,214,731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CI Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $124,325,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,248,905.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE AXP traded down $0.92 on Thursday, reaching $226.83. The company had a trading volume of 301,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,126,237. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $210.92 and its 200-day moving average is $180.31. The stock has a market cap of $164.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $231.69.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by ($0.02). American Express had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 30.99%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.18%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AXP. StockNews.com lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Stephens upgraded American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $167.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on American Express from $208.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $189.00.

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.