FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 277 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,886 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 277 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up about 1.6% of FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. FOCUS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,104,735,000 after purchasing an additional 86,100 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 5.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,249,415,000 after acquiring an additional 239,173 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in American Express by 0.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,074,168,000 after acquiring an additional 33,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in American Express by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $655,137,000 after acquiring an additional 247,864 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $312.75 on Monday. American Express has a 52-week low of $177.81 and a 52-week high of $315.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $299.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $271.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $220.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last quarter. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $278.09.

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.