Fruth Investment Management Sells 120 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Fruth Investment Management reduced its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 11,230 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 120 shares during the quarter. American Express comprises 0.9% of Fruth Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AXP. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 430.6% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after acquiring an additional 3,867 shares during the last quarter. XML Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI raised its position in shares of American Express by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $25,626,000 after buying an additional 2,557 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in American Express by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $655,137,000 after buying an additional 247,864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $298,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $320.26 on Thursday. American Express has a 1 year low of $204.00 and a 1 year high of $326.27. The company’s 50-day moving average is $305.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a market cap of $225.61 billion, a PE ratio of 22.86, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.3 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’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 owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.