American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Family Capital Trust Co

Family Capital Trust Co lowered its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 37,178 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 2,457 shares during the quarter. American Express comprises about 3.7% of Family Capital Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Family Capital Trust Co’s holdings in American Express were worth $11,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 26,783.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,467,210,000 after purchasing an additional 906,353 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 59,816.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $185,079,000 after purchasing an additional 681,304 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 35,213.7% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $86,002,000 after purchasing an additional 316,219 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in American Express by 73.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $191,842,000 after purchasing an additional 300,138 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AXP. Citigroup upped their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group increased their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

American Express Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $316.72 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $207.61 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $306.29 and a 200 day moving average of $279.80.

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, 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, research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.