American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Holdings Cut by Connors Investor Services Inc.

Connors Investor Services Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,551 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 602 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up approximately 1.8% of Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $19,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth $832,000. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Express by 430.6% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after acquiring an additional 3,867 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH grew its holdings in American Express by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 349,937 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $103,858,000 after purchasing an additional 12,364 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI increased its stake in American Express by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $25,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,557 shares during the period. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 6,451 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Baird R W raised American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird upgraded American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.05.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $267.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $266.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $287.11. American Express has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The stock has a market cap of $187.07 billion, a PE ratio of 19.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.