Bank of New Hampshire Cuts Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Bank of New Hampshire trimmed its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,928 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 148 shares during the quarter. Bank of New Hampshire’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. HSBC cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $272.64.

American Express Trading Down 0.5 %

AXP stock traded down $1.45 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $300.43. 165,115 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,688,304. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a one year low of $177.81 and a one year high of $307.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.64 billion, a PE ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $294.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $267.67.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

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

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.