American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by MWA Asset Management

MWA Asset Management cut its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,418 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 38 shares during the quarter. MWA Asset Management’s holdings in American Express were worth $718,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in American Express by 105.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,000 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 19,400 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 22,983 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $6,233,000 after buying an additional 1,857 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in American Express by 6.4% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 22,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $6,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,037 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,145,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Compass Point reduced their target price on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock opened at $316.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $223.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $306.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $279.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 12-month low of $207.61 and a 12-month high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.3 EPS for the current 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 issued 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.99%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.