Financial Connections Group Inc. Sells 1,500 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Financial Connections Group Inc. cut its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 81.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 334 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $77,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in American Express by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $909,575,000 after acquiring an additional 496,153 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew 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 during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of American Express by 62.1% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,399,494 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $449,521,000 after purchasing an additional 919,337 shares during the period. Finally, Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 2,067,858 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $387,392,000 after purchasing an additional 142,763 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total value of $27,267,303.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 110,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,642,315.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total transaction of $27,267,303.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 110,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,642,315.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total value of $3,578,087.46. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,957,361.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 177,717 shares of company stock worth $41,680,999 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AXP stock traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $238.65. The company had a trading volume of 1,868,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,002,492. The company has a 50 day moving average of $234.68 and a 200 day moving average of $219.14. 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 cap of $171.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $244.41.

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

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.50.

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.