Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC Has $3.01 Million Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,082 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 413 shares during the period. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA raised its position in shares of American Express by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. DZ Bank cut American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $221.00 price objective (up previously from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.71.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at $12,248,905.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 203,891 shares of company stock valued at $44,373,196 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Price Performance

AXP traded up $0.66 on Thursday, hitting $232.12. 520,742 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,184,358. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $240.55. The business has a 50-day moving average of $223.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $193.49.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

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.