Community Bank N.A. Sells 969 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Community Bank N.A. reduced its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 13.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,513 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 969 shares during the quarter. Community Bank N.A.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of American Express by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 13,778 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,581,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 58,124 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $10,889,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,682,000. Bfsg LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 21,124 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,957,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Finally, Fountainhead AM LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $224,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stephens upgraded shares of American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $148.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $209.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other American Express news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of American Express stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP traded down $0.83 during trading on Thursday, reaching $238.29. 1,657,371 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,176,327. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $221.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.53. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that American Express will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. 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.