Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Decreases Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,227 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 146 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,502,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. XML Financial LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its holdings in American Express by 2,196.4% in the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 7,885 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $162,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in American Express by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,012 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $177,097,000 after acquiring an additional 28,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of American Express by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 239,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $64,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,912 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $300.29 on Friday. American Express has a twelve month low of $170.15 and a twelve month high of $307.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a market cap of $211.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day moving average of $285.30 and a 200-day moving average of $258.92.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AXP. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Compass Point boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $259.45.

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.