UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Sells 67 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 21,464 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 67 shares during the quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 89 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $234.66. The company had a trading volume of 2,068,600 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,187,993. The company has a market capitalization of $168.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $224.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $240.55.

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

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $210.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total value of $27,267,303.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 110,318 shares in the company, valued at $25,642,315.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total value of $27,267,303.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 110,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,642,315.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 321,200 shares of company stock valued at $71,640,500. Insiders own 0.11% 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.