Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Cuts Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC decreased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,536 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 262 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the third quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. HSBC boosted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price objective on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. The trade was 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 worth $9,613,503 over the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $316.72 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1-year low of $207.61 and a 1-year high of $326.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $306.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $280.03.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Equities analysts predict that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.99%.

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.