Webster Bank N. A. Sells 825 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Webster Bank N. A. lessened its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,956 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 825 shares during the quarter. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in American Express by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 44,162 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $13,107,000 after buying an additional 2,510 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $835,000. Apexium Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 113.8% during the 4th quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 2,268 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in American Express by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,438 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,831,000 after purchasing an additional 2,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $320.87 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 52 week low of $186.43 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $302.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $275.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the subject of a number of research reports. BTIG Research increased their price target on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. HSBC boosted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $282.36.

American Express 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.