Smead Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Smead Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,682,262 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 75,946 shares during the period. American Express makes up approximately 5.6% of Smead Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Smead Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $315,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new stake in American Express during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $157.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $201.62.

American Express Stock Up 0.6 %

AXP traded up $1.38 during trading on Thursday, hitting $219.05. The company had a trading volume of 1,862,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,045,043. The company has a market capitalization of $158.56 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $231.69. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $219.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16 billion. American Express had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 30.99%. The company’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 24.98%.

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.