American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 39,256 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 6,033 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up about 1.4% of IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in American Express were worth $11,651,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of American Express from $326.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.57.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. This trade represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $275.99 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $296.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $289.15. American Express has a 1-year low of $214.51 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.70, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.41%.

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.