American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stake Reduced by Chemistry Wealth Management LLC

Chemistry Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,941 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. American Express comprises about 3.6% of Chemistry Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $15,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,467,210,000 after acquiring an additional 906,353 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its position in shares of American Express by 924.2% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $197,149,000 after acquiring an additional 768,301 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $185,079,000 after acquiring an additional 681,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in American Express by 71.9% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $269,547,000 after purchasing an additional 486,755 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $278.09.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $312.75 on Friday. American Express has a 12-month low of $177.81 and a 12-month high of $315.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $298.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $271.18. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. 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 (DPR) is 20.60%.

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.