Curi RMB Capital LLC Sells 622 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Curi RMB Capital LLC lessened its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 27.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,677 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 622 shares during the quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in American Express by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,752,084 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,484,312,000 after purchasing an additional 268,572 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,761,336 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,600,277,000 after acquiring an additional 95,927 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,785,867,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,878,434 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,151,080,000 after purchasing an additional 14,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in American Express by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,052,115 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $905,864,000 after buying an additional 126,030 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $242.68 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $271.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $287.61. American Express has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $326.28. The firm has a market cap of $170.49 billion, a PE ratio of 17.32, a PEG 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 results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors 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 represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Argus lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $290.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.