Tobam Sells 633 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Tobam decreased its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 25.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,836 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 633 shares during the period. Tobam’s holdings in American Express were worth $545,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of American Express by 105.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,000 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 19,400 shares during the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its position in American Express by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors raised its holdings in American Express by 57.6% during the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 1,371 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $126,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 22,983 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $6,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays upped their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $320.18 on Friday. American Express has a 52 week low of $205.60 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $305.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $279.01. The stock has a market cap of $225.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

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%. On average, equities analysts predict that American Express will post 15.3 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued 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 0.87%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.99%.

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.