Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA Lowers Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA lowered its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 59.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,775 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 4,085 shares during the quarter. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA’s holdings in American Express were worth $824,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 26,783.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,467,210,000 after acquiring an additional 906,353 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 8.5% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $185,079,000 after purchasing an additional 681,304 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 35,213.7% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $86,002,000 after purchasing an additional 316,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of American Express by 73.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $191,842,000 after purchasing an additional 300,138 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $314.11 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.28 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a one year low of $203.42 and a one year high of $326.27. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $304.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $277.73.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, analysts predict that American Express will post 15.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 19.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upped their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.