Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 81,506 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA trimmed its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 999,071 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 81,506 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in American Express were worth $296,514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $276,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 116,177.3% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 51,162 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $15,184,000 after purchasing an additional 51,118 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 948 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $1,785,867,000. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $79,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. HSBC boosted their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Two 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.57.

American Express Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $272.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $191.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $295.97 and its 200 day moving average is $289.03. American Express has a 52 week low of $214.51 and a 52 week high of $326.28. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. This trade represents a ? increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.