ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Sells 5,690 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lessened its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 14.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 33,221 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 5,690 shares during the quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $7,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sachetta LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of American Express stock traded up $1.04 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $229.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,176,112 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,044,221. The stock has a market cap of $164.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.22. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $244.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $232.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total value of $729,842.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,948.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 177,717 shares of company stock worth $41,680,999. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen upped 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $220.30.

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.