Simmons Bank Sells 1,132 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Simmons Bank reduced its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,705 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,132 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $210,540,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1,313.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 768,769 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,440,210,000 after acquiring an additional 714,370 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $713,202,000 after purchasing an additional 667,695 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $73,906,000. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 636.7% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 442,307 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $65,988,000 after purchasing an additional 382,272 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. HSBC raised 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. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $210.71.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total value of $729,842.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,948.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 327,933 shares of company stock valued at $73,199,843 over the last 90 days. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of American Express stock traded up $0.29 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $234.62. 2,084,289 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,188,171. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $225.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $196.14. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

American Express Company 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.