Global Trust Asset Management LLC Sells 236 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Global Trust Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,555 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 236 shares during the quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,055,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Auxier Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 3.6% in the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Express by 2.7% in the third quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $590,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.09.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $318.07 on Wednesday. American Express has a twelve month low of $184.06 and a twelve month high of $319.70. The company has a market capitalization of $224.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.40, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $300.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $273.36.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.