Amalgamated Bank Decreases Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Amalgamated Bank decreased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 113,193 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 2,848 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in American Express were worth $33,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $403,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $364,000. Edge Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 6,451 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. GHE LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 17,021 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,616,000 after buying an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,830,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AXP. StockNews.com lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research upped their target price on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $295.16 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. American Express has a one year low of $213.25 and a one year high of $326.27. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $307.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $285.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

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.