Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC cut its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 63.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,747 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 16,935 shares during the quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $1,826,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth $29,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA raised its holdings in shares of 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 period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $245.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $209.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 203,891 shares of company stock worth $44,373,196 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock traded down $4.79 on Tuesday, reaching $234.13. 3,562,762 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,206,016. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.41 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $223.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $192.64. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.