Pflug Koory LLC Trims Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Pflug Koory LLC lowered its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,644 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 35 shares during the period. Pflug Koory LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,467,210,000 after buying an additional 906,353 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in American Express by 59,816.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $185,079,000 after acquiring an additional 681,304 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 35,213.7% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $86,002,000 after purchasing an additional 316,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of American Express by 73.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $191,842,000 after purchasing an additional 300,138 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $281.00.

American Express Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $320.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $226.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $301.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $274.06. American Express has a twelve month low of $186.43 and a twelve month high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. Research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% 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.