KCM Investment Advisors LLC Sells 240 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,638 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 240 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Trading Down 5.8 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $233.50 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $288.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.44. American Express has a 1 year low of $214.51 and a 1 year high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $164.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Compass Point lowered their target price on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.24.

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.