Bouchey Financial Group Ltd Cuts Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Bouchey Financial Group Ltd cut its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,207 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 66 shares during the quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd’s holdings in American Express were worth $358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 11.3% in the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 7,849 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,119,000 after buying an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 120.9% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,516 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $682,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377 shares in the last quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $221,000. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA increased its position in shares of American Express by 3.5% during the third quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 6,790 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,833,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of American Express by 4.3% during the third quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 48,536 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $13,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,999 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Compass Point dropped their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $294.09 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $307.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $285.99. 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 has a 52 week low of $214.51 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The firm has a market cap of $206.61 billion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.11% 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.