American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Stokes Family Office LLC

Stokes Family Office LLC decreased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 19.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,277 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,552 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in American Express by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 26,852 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $5,031,000 after acquiring an additional 3,169 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp raised its position in shares of American Express by 870.0% during the 4th quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 13,143 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,462,000 after purchasing an additional 11,788 shares during the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. boosted its holdings in American Express by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 5,258 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $985,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in American Express by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,232 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in American Express by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 193,261 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $36,206,000 after buying an additional 30,576 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 203,891 shares of company stock valued at $44,373,196. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:AXP traded down $1.73 on Friday, reaching $230.77. 3,203,304 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,577,762. The business has a fifty day moving average of $224.31 and a 200-day moving average of $193.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $240.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.20.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that American Express will post 12.99 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 dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, HSBC upped their price target on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.71.

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.