Praxis Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Praxis Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 16.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,494 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 3,210 shares during the period. Praxis Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Keybank National Association OH increased its stake in American Express by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 349,937 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $103,858,000 after purchasing an additional 12,364 shares during the period. Edge Capital Group LLC increased its stake in American Express by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 6,451 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its stake in American Express by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 26,102 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $7,747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471 shares during the period. Griffith & Werner Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,311,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 50,009 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $14,842,000 after acquiring an additional 4,959 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AXP. Citigroup dropped their price target on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Baird R W raised American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird raised American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.05.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $298.50 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $283.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $288.77. American Express Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a return on equity of 32.48% and a net margin of 15.31%. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

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.