Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Sells 1,139 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,790 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,139 shares during the quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $11,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth $210,540,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 1,313.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 768,769 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,440,210,000 after buying an additional 714,370 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in American Express during the third quarter worth $73,906,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Express by 636.7% in the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 442,307 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $65,988,000 after acquiring an additional 382,272 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 417.3% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 415,696 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $77,876,000 after purchasing an additional 335,338 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of American Express stock traded down $1.14 on Tuesday, hitting $237.78. 389,708 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,167,255. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $223.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.04 billion, a PE ratio of 19.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $240.55.

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

American Express Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Stephens raised shares of American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $148.00 to $193.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. DZ Bank downgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $209.52.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 203,891 shares of company stock worth $44,373,196 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.