Wynn Capital LLC Trims Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Wynn Capital LLC trimmed its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,890 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. American Express makes up approximately 2.8% of Wynn Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Wynn Capital LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in American Express by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,608 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. 626 Financial LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. 626 Financial LLC now owns 1,541 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. KWB Wealth raised its position in shares of American Express by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. KWB Wealth now owns 10,031 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,721,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403 shares during the period. David J Yvars Group bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $230,000. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in American Express by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,229 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE AXP opened at $300.23 on Wednesday. American Express has a 12 month low of $177.81 and a 12 month high of $307.82. The company has a market capitalization of $211.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $297.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $270.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. Barclays raised their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $278.09.

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.