Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp Sells 343 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp reduced its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,897 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 343 shares during the quarter. Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,292,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Venture Visionary Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 23,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 417.3% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 415,696 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $77,876,000 after acquiring an additional 335,338 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. purchased a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,460,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 1,313.2% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 768,769 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,440,210,000 after acquiring an additional 714,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GYL Financial Synergies LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 23,987 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,579,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Stock Down 0.1 %

AXP traded down $0.17 during trading on Thursday, hitting $217.50. The company had a trading volume of 3,893,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,075,617. The company has a market cap of $157.44 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $219.56 and a 200-day moving average of $187.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $231.69.

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

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.18%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on American Express in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $235.00 price target on the stock. HSBC increased their price target on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $201.62.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at $2,522,816.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.