Peoples Financial Services CORP. Has $3.35 Million Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Peoples Financial Services CORP. cut its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,274 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 459 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up 1.6% of Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,346,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pines Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $594,000. Accurate Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,527 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $742,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,608 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. 626 Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. 626 Financial LLC now owns 1,541 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, KWB Wealth increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. KWB Wealth now owns 10,031 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,721,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on AXP. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $278.09.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $300.23 on Wednesday. American Express has a 1 year low of $177.81 and a 1 year high of $307.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.50 billion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $297.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $270.60.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. Analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.