Cypress Capital Group Sells 195 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Cypress Capital Group cut its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,052 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 195 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in American Express were worth $609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in American Express by 3.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 18,482 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $5,485,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 21,834 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $6,480,000 after acquiring an additional 3,005 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,878,434 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,151,080,000 after acquiring an additional 14,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unified Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $886,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.3 %

American Express stock opened at $284.20 on Thursday. American Express has a 12 month low of $214.51 and a 12 month high of $326.27. The firm has a market cap of $199.66 billion, a PE ratio of 20.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $306.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $287.59.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AXP. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three 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.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

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.