Ridgewood Investments LLC Cuts Position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Ridgewood Investments LLC reduced its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 9.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,808 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 285 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in American Express by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in shares of American Express by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,633 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $781,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the period. GHE LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 17,021 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $5,052,000 after buying an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $219,000. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its position in American Express by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 1,199 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 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. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $311.60 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $304.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $291.28. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $329.14. The firm has a market cap of $216.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.25.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.49 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AXP. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $327.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $311.05.

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.