Cullinan Associates Inc. Sells 3,914 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Cullinan Associates Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 61,148 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 3,914 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for approximately 0.9% of Cullinan Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $16,536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 119.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,993,000 after buying an additional 21,508 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 102.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after acquiring an additional 6,329 shares during the period. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,881,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its holdings in American Express by 2,196.4% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after buying an additional 7,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its stake in American Express by 15.5% during the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,143,000 after acquiring an additional 4,800 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AXP shares. TD Cowen increased their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Compass Point started coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.5 %

AXP stock traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $271.25. The company had a trading volume of 291,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,920,016. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $263.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $244.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $195.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $141.02 and a fifty-two week high of $286.36.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

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.