Y.D. More Investments Ltd Trims Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Y.D. More Investments Ltd trimmed its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 66.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 820 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,605 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd’s holdings in American Express were worth $153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 203,891 shares of company stock valued at $44,373,196 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.71.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $233.68 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $240.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $223.94 and its 200-day moving average is $193.49.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

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.