Sawyer & Company Inc Cuts Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Sawyer & Company Inc lowered its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 11,292 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,155 shares during the period. American Express comprises 1.2% of Sawyer & Company Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Sawyer & Company Inc’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at $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 that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Up 4.0 %

AXP stock opened at $312.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1-year low of $177.81 and a 1-year high of $313.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $297.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $270.60.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $278.09.

American Express 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.