American Express (NYSE:AXP) Holdings Cut by CoreCap Advisors LLC

CoreCap Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,368 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 2,176 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $4,858,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Compass Point dropped their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock 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 raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $295.05.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded up $0.77 on Friday, hitting $284.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,704,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,830,352. The company has a market capitalization of $199.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. American Express has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $326.28. The stock's 50-day moving average is $263.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $286.99.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.91%.

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.