American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by First Community Trust NA

First Community Trust NA cut its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 610 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. First Community Trust NA’s holdings in American Express were worth $181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express during the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. BTIG Research lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Compass Point raised their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.09.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $300.23 on Wednesday. American Express has a 12 month low of $177.81 and a 12 month high of $307.82. 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 company has a market cap of $211.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $297.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $270.60.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 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 $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

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.