Tacita Capital Inc Trims Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Tacita Capital Inc lessened its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 34.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 290 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. Tacita Capital Inc’s holdings in American Express were worth $86,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $295.12 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $307.36 and a 200-day moving average of $287.39. American Express has a 52 week low of $214.51 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The stock has a market cap of $207.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AXP. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. 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 note on Friday, January 24th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, 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 note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, 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. 0.12% of the stock is currently 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.