QV Investors Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

QV Investors Inc. lessened its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,220 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 210 shares during the quarter. QV Investors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the third quarter worth $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $277.82.

American Express Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of AXP stock traded up $2.58 on Monday, hitting $295.88. 785,134 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,023,311. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $296.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $269.64. American Express has a one year low of $177.81 and a one year high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.