Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Sells 800 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. cut its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,423 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 382.6% in the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 333 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE raised its position in American Express by 3.2% in the third quarter. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE now owns 5,274 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $787,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Perennial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.1% during the third quarter. Perennial Advisors LLC now owns 51,270 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $7,649,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 7.0% during the third quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,140 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Express by 1.2% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 58,738 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,875,000 after buying an additional 689 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $232.88 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $168.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.18, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $220.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $189.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $235.37.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.39% and a net margin of 14.50%. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $229.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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. DZ Bank downgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $208.24.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following 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 a total of 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388 in the last quarter. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.