Brown Financial Advisors Has $470,000 Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Brown Financial Advisors trimmed its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,583 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 196 shares during the quarter. Brown Financial Advisors’ holdings in American Express were worth $470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % 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 valued at $9,613,503 over the last ninety days. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of AXP opened at $295.16 on Tuesday. American Express has a 52 week low of $213.25 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $307.38 and a 200-day moving average of $285.47. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $207.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. HSBC boosted their target price 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, Compass Point cut their price target on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

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.