American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Saxon Interests Inc.

Saxon Interests Inc. decreased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 65.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,567 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 8,730 shares during the quarter. Saxon Interests Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tyler Stone Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth $29,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA lifted its stake in American Express by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 155 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Stephens upgraded American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on American Express in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $235.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $191.84.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $227.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,295,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,708,755. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market cap of $164.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $211.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.65. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $231.69.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.41%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.