American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Rathbones Group PLC

Rathbones Group PLC lessened its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 11.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 10,753 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,375 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE AXP opened at $233.85 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $287.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $289.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market cap of $164.29 billion, a PE ratio of 16.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. American Express has a one year low of $214.51 and a one year high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.41%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.24.

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.