Sky Investment Group LLC Sells 502 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Sky Investment Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,302 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 502 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up 2.6% of Sky Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Sky Investment Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $14,336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE AXP opened at $312.75 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $299.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $272.24. The stock has a market cap of $220.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52 week low of $177.81 and a 52 week high of $315.40. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AXP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $278.09.

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.