United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Sells 1,096 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 99,209 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,096 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $29,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research increased their price target on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.81.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $255.57 on Tuesday. American Express has a 52-week low of $216.51 and a 52-week high of $326.28. The business’s fifty day moving average is $277.72 and its 200 day moving average is $288.30. 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 firm has a market cap of $179.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Company 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.