Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 258 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,666 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 258 shares during the quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 2.8 %

AXP opened at $295.23 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $207.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.07, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company’s 50 day moving average is $307.54 and its 200-day moving average is $285.04. American Express has a 1-year low of $212.48 and a 1-year high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

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.