Private Management Group Inc. Sells 28,276 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Private Management Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 18.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 127,577 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 28,276 shares during the quarter. Private Management Group Inc.'s holdings in American Express were worth $23,900,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,037,387,000 after purchasing an additional 41,443 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd increased its stake in American Express by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 3,572,743 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $533,018,000 after buying an additional 67,575 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,800,045 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $268,549,000 after buying an additional 102,977 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,574,663 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $294,856,000 after acquiring an additional 102,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of American Express by 1.5% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,480,157 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $220,825,000 after acquiring an additional 21,876 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,874 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388. Insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on American Express from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $208.24.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP traded up $5.88 on Tuesday, hitting $238.88. The stock had a trading volume of 4,684,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,180,570. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $221.05 and a 200-day moving average of $190.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.73. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $239.42. The company has a market capitalization of $172.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.39% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that American Express will post 12.92 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express's payout ratio is 23.06%.

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.

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