Ibex Wealth Advisors Sells 56,408 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Ibex Wealth Advisors cut its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 81.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,664 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 56,408 shares during the period. Ibex Wealth Advisors’ holdings in American Express were worth $3,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Auxier Asset Management increased its stake in American Express by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in American Express by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC grew its position in American Express by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 12,017 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,567,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in American Express by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Compass Point dropped their target price on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $291.50.

American Express Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $317.79. 167,554 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,621,466. American Express has a 12-month low of $199.88 and a 12-month high of $326.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $303.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $276.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market cap of $223.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.