American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Rothschild Investment LLC

Rothschild Investment LLC cut its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,538 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 46 shares during the quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,534,000 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 the stock. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,830,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of American Express by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 786,422 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $233,512,000 after purchasing an additional 15,038 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,317 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $717,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $835,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. HSBC lifted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

American Express Stock Down 2.8 %

AXP opened at $295.23 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $307.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $285.04. American Express has a 52 week low of $212.48 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The company has a market capitalization of $207.41 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.24. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.