Calton & Associates Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Calton & Associates Inc. cut its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 60.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 748 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,164 shares during the quarter. Calton & Associates Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point lowered their price objective on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

American Express Trading Down 0.6 %

AXP stock opened at $317.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $223.40 billion, a PE ratio of 22.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $304.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $276.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.67. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $199.88 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.