Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 61,790 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,139 shares during the quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $11,576,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 23,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,349,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 417.3% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 415,696 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $77,876,000 after acquiring an additional 335,338 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $2,460,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,806 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,837,000 after purchasing an additional 2,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 1,313.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 768,769 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,440,210,000 after buying an additional 714,370 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on AXP. TD Cowen increased their target price on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $209.52.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 203,891 shares of company stock worth $44,373,196 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock traded down $1.14 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $237.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 389,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,167,255. The stock has a market cap of $171.04 billion, a PE ratio of 19.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $240.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $223.10 and a 200 day moving average of $192.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

American Express Company 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.