Five Oceans Advisors Sells 68 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Five Oceans Advisors trimmed its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,397 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 68 shares during the quarter. Five Oceans Advisors’ holdings in American Express were worth $415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the third 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. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AXP. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup upped their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $317.12 on Friday. American Express has a 52-week low of $199.88 and a 52-week high of $326.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $304.98 and its 200 day moving average is $277.34. The company has a market cap of $223.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued 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 presently 19.99%.

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.