American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont decreased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,169 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 290 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in American Express were worth $6,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 906,353 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in American Express by 8.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after buying an additional 866,110 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its stake in American Express by 924.2% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $197,149,000 after buying an additional 768,301 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in American Express by 71.9% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $269,547,000 after purchasing an additional 486,755 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. BTIG Research lowered shares of 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. HSBC downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $278.09.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock traded up $1.27 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $312.75. The stock had a trading volume of 2,180,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,022,091. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $220.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $298.75 and its 200 day moving average is $271.18. American Express has a twelve month low of $177.81 and a twelve month high of $315.40.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. 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 posted $3.30 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. 0.11% of the stock is 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.