American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC decreased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,671 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 2,086 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $12,071,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $3,104,735,000 after buying an additional 86,100 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 5.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,249,415,000 after purchasing an additional 239,173 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,074,168,000 after buying an additional 33,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in American Express by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $655,137,000 after acquiring an additional 247,864 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on AXP. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $296.38.

American Express Trading Down 1.0 %

AXP traded down $3.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $306.46. 2,238,366 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,514,063. The firm's fifty day moving average is $306.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $281.25. American Express has a 1-year low of $207.61 and a 1-year high of $326.27. The company has a market cap of $215.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87, a PEG 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.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. American Express's payout ratio is 19.99%.

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.