Connable Office Inc. Has $3.14 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Connable Office Inc. cut its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 16.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,594 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 2,012 shares during the quarter. Connable Office Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $300.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $307.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $286.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a 52 week low of $214.51 and a 52 week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.99%.

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.