Financial Counselors Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Financial Counselors Inc. reduced its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,009 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 767 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,142 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC raised its position in American Express by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $996,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 4,007 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Auxier Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abel Hall LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 3.6% in the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. The trade was a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of American Express from $326.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upped their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird raised American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.57.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $272.15 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $295.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $289.03. American Express has a 52 week low of $214.51 and a 52 week high of $326.28. The stock has a market cap of $191.19 billion, a PE ratio of 19.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

American Express 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.