American Express (NYSE:AXP) Position Lowered by Courier Capital LLC

Courier Capital LLC decreased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 18,890 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of American Express by 1.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,320,053 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $5,281,753,000 after purchasing an additional 507,042 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 118,198.3% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,732,068 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,028,913,000 after acquiring an additional 13,720,460 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in American Express by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,503,902 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,847,452,000 after acquiring an additional 35,760 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in American Express by 0.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,037,387,000 after acquiring an additional 41,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $911,554,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $227.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $231.69. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $210.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.31.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.18%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt began coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $235.00 target price on the stock. DZ Bank cut shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on American Express from $216.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $189.00.

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.