Blueshift Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 52.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,096 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,194 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AXP. Argus cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $303.52.

American Express Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $270.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $190.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 52-week low of $214.51 and a 52-week high of $326.28. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $298.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

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.