Smith Moore & CO. Reduces Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Smith Moore & CO. trimmed its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,945 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 96 shares during the quarter. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in American Express were worth $577,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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 $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Argus lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. HSBC lifted their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Compass Point decreased their target price on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.24.

American Express Trading Down 5.8 %

Shares of AXP opened at $233.50 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $288.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.44. American Express has a twelve month low of $214.51 and a twelve month high of $326.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. 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 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 net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. American Express’s payout ratio is 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.