American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Westmount Partners LLC

Westmount Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,852 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 239 shares during the period. Westmount Partners LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in American Express by 26,783.5% during 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 buying an additional 906,353 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in American Express by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after buying an additional 866,110 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in shares of American Express by 924.2% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $197,149,000 after purchasing an additional 768,301 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $185,079,000 after purchasing an additional 681,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of American Express by 71.9% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $269,547,000 after purchasing an additional 486,755 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP traded up $2.78 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $296.08. 815,454 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,029,060. The company has a market capitalization of $208.57 billion, a PE ratio of 21.79, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $296.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $269.64. American Express has a one year low of $177.81 and a one year high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $277.82.

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.