Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. Sells 50 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. lowered its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 874 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,639 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,785,000 after buying an additional 1,655 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation grew its position in American Express by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 19,353 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $5,744,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the period. DJE Kapital AG acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $5,928,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $2,869,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 47.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 37,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $11,129,000 after purchasing an additional 12,035 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point decreased their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $300.77 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 12-month low of $214.51 and a 12-month high of $326.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $307.44 and a 200-day moving average of $287.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 19.99%.

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.