Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC Trims Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC decreased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 63.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,747 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 16,935 shares during the quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,826,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the third quarter worth $29,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. TD Cowen upped their price target on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.52.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 203,891 shares of company stock valued at $44,373,196. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE AXP traded down $2.87 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $236.05. 1,424,568 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,178,143. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $223.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $192.64. The stock has a market cap of $169.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $240.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

About American Express

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.