American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC trimmed its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 26,654 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 5,230 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $7,910,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. HSBC boosted their price objective 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. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 1.9 %

AXP opened at $304.08 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $307.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $283.79. 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 has a 12-month low of $209.10 and a 12-month 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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. As a group, research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.99%.

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.