Stonegate Investment Group LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC cut its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 35.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,837 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,001 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $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 during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AXP. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. HSBC raised their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.50.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $317.24 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $302.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $275.72. The company has a market cap of $223.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a 52-week low of $199.07 and a 52-week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

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.