American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lowered its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,268 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 668 shares during the quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. True Wealth Design LLC grew 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE AXP opened at $270.48 on Monday. 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 of $298.30 and a 200-day moving average of $288.81. 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 cap of $190.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AXP. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $303.52.

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.