Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Sells 103 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 890 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 103 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $316.72 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $306.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $279.80. American Express has a 52 week low of $207.61 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The stock has a market cap of $223.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (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%. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s 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 owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped 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 report on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

American Express Company 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.