Piscataqua Savings Bank Sells 50 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Piscataqua Savings Bank trimmed its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,813 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for 1.7% of Piscataqua Savings Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Piscataqua Savings Bank’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,022,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Express by 430.6% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 9.8% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI raised its holdings in American Express by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $25,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,557 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position 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 valued at $655,137,000 after acquiring an additional 247,864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $298,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Compass Point raised their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $282.36.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $320.87 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $226.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $302.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $275.17. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $186.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.