American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC

Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,230 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 164 shares during the quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $250,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 17.7% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 4,178 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 4.8% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 161,031 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $43,672,000 after purchasing an additional 7,328 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in American Express by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 408,679 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $110,834,000 after purchasing an additional 5,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QV Investors Inc. grew its holdings in American Express by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 11,430 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,100,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Compass Point lowered their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

American Express Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $306.46 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $306.60 and its 200-day moving average is $281.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a 12-month low of $207.61 and a 12-month high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.99%.

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.