Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd Cuts Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd trimmed its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 15.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,764,668 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 496,550 shares during the period. American Express comprises 14.4% of Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd owned about 0.39% of American Express worth $820,526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at about $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents 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 at the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $322.48 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $227.17 billion, a PE ratio of 23.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $300.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $273.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a twelve month low of $184.81 and a twelve month high of $322.82.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on AXP. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.09.

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.