Profit Investment Management LLC Sells 138 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Profit Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,142 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 138 shares during the quarter. Profit Investment Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in American Express by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,104,735,000 after buying an additional 86,100 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in American Express by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,249,415,000 after buying an additional 239,173 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,074,168,000 after buying an additional 33,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of American Express by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $655,137,000 after buying an additional 247,864 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $311.69 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $298.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $270.90. American Express has a 52-week low of $177.81 and a 52-week high of $314.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a market cap of $219.57 billion, a PE ratio of 22.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related 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 transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.