Activest Wealth Management Cuts Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Activest Wealth Management decreased its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 21.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 123 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 34 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management’s holdings in American Express were worth $36,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. Compass Point decreased 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 note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

American Express Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $316.72 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $306.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $280.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1 year low of $207.61 and a 1 year high of $326.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.11 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Analysts predict that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. 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 company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, 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 have sold a total of 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.