WASHINGTON TRUST Co Has $917,000 Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,894 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in American Express were worth $917,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. RB Capital Management LLC grew its position in American Express by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 3,783 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $707,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC grew its position in American Express by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 27,029 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $5,054,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in shares of American Express by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,421 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of American Express by 207.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 946 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $397,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of AXP traded down $0.44 on Thursday, reaching $227.31. The stock had a trading volume of 892,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,136,229. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $210.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $231.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63.

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

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 21.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on AXP. Robert W. Baird lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on American Express from $157.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays upped their target price on American Express from $216.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on American Express in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $235.00 target price on the stock. Finally, DZ Bank lowered American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $191.84.

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.