Pavion Blue Capital LLC Trims Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Pavion Blue Capital LLC trimmed its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,947 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 242 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for 4.2% of Pavion Blue Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Pavion Blue Capital LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $8,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,104,735,000 after purchasing an additional 86,100 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 5.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,249,415,000 after acquiring an additional 239,173 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,074,168,000 after acquiring an additional 33,193 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $655,137,000 after acquiring an additional 247,864 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Stock Down 2.8 %

American Express stock opened at $295.23 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.41 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The company’s 50-day moving average is $307.54 and its 200-day moving average is $284.65. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $212.48 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point dropped their price objective on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. Company 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.