American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC

Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lessened its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,379 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 205 shares during the period. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Express by 430.6% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,012 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $177,097,000 after purchasing an additional 28,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in American Express by 1.7% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 239,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $64,820,000 after acquiring an additional 3,912 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE AXP traded down $1.59 during trading on Monday, reaching $301.49. 1,954,696 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,932,430. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.38 billion, a PE ratio of 22.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $177.81 and a fifty-two week 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $293.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $267.17.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $268.95.

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.