Narwhal Capital Management Sells 1,464 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Narwhal Capital Management lessened its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,567 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,464 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up about 1.3% of Narwhal Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Narwhal Capital Management’s holdings in American Express were worth $14,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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 report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $281.00.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $320.87 on Monday. American Express has a 52 week low of $186.43 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market cap of $226.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $302.35 and a 200-day moving average of $274.92.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. On average, analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

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.