First Interstate Bank Sells 1,331 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

First Interstate Bank decreased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,878 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,331 shares during the quarter. First Interstate Bank’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new stake in American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on AXP shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $235.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $201.62.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP remained flat at $218.40 during mid-day trading on Tuesday. 4,176,339 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,074,129. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $219.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $186.88. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $231.69. The stock has a market cap of $158.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.51, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($0.02). American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.