Buckhead Capital Management LLC Sells 102 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Buckhead Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,232 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 102 shares during the period. Buckhead Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,104,735,000 after buying an additional 86,100 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,249,415,000 after acquiring an additional 239,173 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in American Express by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,074,168,000 after acquiring an additional 33,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in American Express by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $655,137,000 after purchasing an additional 247,864 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $307.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $216.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. 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 $208.82 and a 1 year high of $326.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $306.67 and a 200 day moving average of $281.42.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, 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 sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Three equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

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.