Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 178 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Financial Counselors Inc. decreased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,477 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 178 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in American Express by 118,198.3% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,732,068 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,028,913,000 after acquiring an additional 13,720,460 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $911,554,000. Boston Partners bought a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth $210,540,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in American Express by 162.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,961,999 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $289,885,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214,731 shares during the period. Finally, CI Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $124,325,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $218.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $157.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $231.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $218.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.90.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that American Express will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. 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 0.18%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stephens raised shares of American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $148.00 to $193.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $229.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $201.62.

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.