L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP Sells 200 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP cut its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,500 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 34.2% in the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 2,862 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $776,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $250,000. Sapient Capital LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 101.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 4,678 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,360 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its holdings in American Express by 653.3% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 39,835 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $10,803,000 after acquiring an additional 34,547 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 4,178 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Compass Point dropped their target price on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped 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. StockNews.com lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

American Express Stock Down 0.2 %

AXP opened at $309.61 on Wednesday. American Express has a 12 month low of $207.61 and a 12 month high of $326.27. The company has a market cap of $218.11 billion, a PE ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $306.45 and a 200 day moving average of $280.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.99%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.