Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC Lowers Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,107 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 275 shares during the period. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AXP. XML Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 9.8% in the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its stake in American Express by 2,196.4% in the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 701 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $162,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Express by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,012 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $177,097,000 after acquiring an additional 28,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.7% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 239,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $64,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,912 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. BTIG Research lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $256.95.

American Express Stock Down 2.4 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $296.77 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $284.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $258.17. American Express has a 1-year low of $167.77 and a 1-year high of $307.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.84, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.39 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, 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 have sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.