Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 504 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lowered its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,576 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 504 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in American Express were worth $11,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,527 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $750,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,609 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. G&S Capital LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 11,247 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,338,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 5,334 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,583,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. lifted its stake in American Express by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. now owns 2,706 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $803,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup boosted their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Up 1.3 %

AXP stock opened at $311.37 on Friday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $209.10 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $306.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company has a market capitalization of $219.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

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.