Community Bank N.A. Sells 85 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Community Bank N.A. lowered its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,912 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. Community Bank N.A.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,175,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in American Express by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 41,652 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $11,296,000 after buying an additional 1,098 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in American Express by 30.6% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,049 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,027,000 after buying an additional 1,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. The trade was a ? increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. HSBC increased their target price 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. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Compass Point decreased their target price on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.52.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $270.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $298.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $288.55. American Express has a 1-year low of $214.51 and a 1-year high of $326.28. The stock has a market cap of $190.02 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released 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 return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders 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 1.21%. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

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.