Herbst Group LLC Reduces Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Herbst Group LLC cut its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,136 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,905 shares during the period. American Express comprises about 2.2% of Herbst Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Herbst Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,602,000 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 stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. HSBC cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com raised American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.09.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $312.75 on Friday. American Express has a twelve month low of $177.81 and a twelve month high of $315.40. The company has a market capitalization of $220.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $299.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $271.73.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

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.