Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. Sells 182 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,278 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 182 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 430.6% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after buying an additional 3,867 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC increased its position in American Express by 9.8% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI lifted its holdings in American Express by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $25,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,557 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its position in American Express by 2,196.4% in the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of American Express by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $655,137,000 after purchasing an additional 247,864 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $312.51 on Thursday. American Express has a twelve month low of $177.81 and a twelve month high of $313.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $297.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $270.60. The firm has a market cap of $220.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Compass Point raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.09.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express 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.