United Asset Strategies Inc. Sells 76 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

United Asset Strategies Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,302 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 76 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Compass Point upped their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $281.00.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP 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. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $302.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $275.17. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $186.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. Equities analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.