Cacti Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Cacti Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 413,451 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 14,735 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for 9.5% of Cacti Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Cacti Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $122,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,467,210,000 after acquiring an additional 906,353 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after buying an additional 866,110 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 924.2% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $197,149,000 after buying an additional 768,301 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in American Express by 59,816.0% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $185,079,000 after acquiring an additional 681,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in American Express by 71.9% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $269,547,000 after acquiring an additional 486,755 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Compass Point boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Four 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $263.68.

American Express Price Performance

AXP traded up $2.77 during trading on Thursday, reaching $299.56. 453,181 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,842,794. American Express has a 12-month low of $177.81 and a 12-month high of $307.82. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $292.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $265.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a market cap of $211.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

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.