Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Sells 38 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. trimmed its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,809 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 38 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in American Express were worth $16,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $308,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in American Express by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,756 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 979 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $208,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 14,402 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,274,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $264.36 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a twelve month low of $214.51 and a twelve month high of $326.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $300.85 and a 200 day moving average of $288.45. The stock has a market cap of $185.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on AXP shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.24.

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.