S.A. Mason LLC Sells 74 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

S.A. Mason LLC cut its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,206 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 74 shares during the period. American Express makes up about 0.8% of S.A. Mason LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. S.A. Mason LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in American Express by 105.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,000 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 19,400 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in American Express by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 114,408 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $31,027,000 after purchasing an additional 6,122 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 16,404 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,449,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,074 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,918,000 after buying an additional 1,634 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Herbst Group LLC increased its position in American Express by 5.7% during the third quarter. Herbst Group LLC now owns 14,041 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $317.12 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $304.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $277.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a twelve month low of $199.88 and a twelve month high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 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%. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Compass Point reduced their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned 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 $296.38.

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.