Breakwater Capital Group Trims Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Breakwater Capital Group trimmed its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,372 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 73 shares during the quarter. Breakwater Capital Group’s holdings in American Express were worth $704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on AXP shares. Compass Point increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $277.82.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $297.33 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $270.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12 month low of $177.81 and a 12 month high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were 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 represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.