Kentucky Trust Co Sells 230 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Kentucky Trust Co decreased its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 25.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 680 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 230 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Trust Co’s holdings in American Express were worth $183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of a number of research reports. BTIG Research dropped their target price on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Argus lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of AXP opened at $296.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $207.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $326.28. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $282.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.48% and a net margin of 15.31%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

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.