Seizert Capital Partners LLC Sells 90 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Seizert Capital Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,793 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 90 shares during the period. Seizert Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $10,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of AXP opened at $283.05 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. American Express has a 52-week low of $214.51 and a 52-week high of $326.27. The firm has a market cap of $198.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.20, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s fifty day moving average is $306.96 and its 200-day moving average is $287.61.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 19.99%.

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.