Cullinan Associates Inc. Has $15.76 Million Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Cullinan Associates Inc. reduced its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 53,101 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 8,047 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up about 1.0% of Cullinan Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $15,760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AXP. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

American Express Trading Down 0.3 %

AXP opened at $316.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 1-year low of $203.42 and a 1-year high of $326.27. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $304.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $277.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Analysts expect that American Express will post 15.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.99%.

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.