Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,156 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 439 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Baird R W raised American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.57.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $275.99 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a market cap of $193.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 12 month low of $214.51 and a 12 month high of $326.28. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $296.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $289.15.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.41%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

About American Express

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.