Peoples Financial Services CORP. Lowers Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Peoples Financial Services CORP. cut its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,274 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 459 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for 1.6% of Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America increased their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $278.09.

American Express Trading Up 1.1 %

AXP stock opened at $300.23 on Wednesday. American Express has a 1-year low of $177.81 and a 1-year high of $307.82. The firm has a market cap of $211.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $297.91 and its 200-day moving average is $270.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. American Express’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.