American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA

Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA reduced its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 192,258 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 647 shares during the period. American Express comprises about 2.6% of Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA’s holdings in American Express were worth $36,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Venture Visionary Partners LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 23,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 417.3% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 415,696 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $77,876,000 after acquiring an additional 335,338 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $2,460,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in American Express by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,806 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,837,000 after purchasing an additional 2,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 1,313.2% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 768,769 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,440,210,000 after purchasing an additional 714,370 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total transaction of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 210,920 shares of company stock valued at $45,804,652 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, HSBC lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $209.52.

American Express Stock Down 0.4 %

American Express stock traded down $0.98 during trading on Friday, reaching $236.12. The stock had a trading volume of 1,517,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,176,836. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $240.55. The stock has a market cap of $169.84 billion, a PE ratio of 19.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $222.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.85.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

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.