Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC Sells 54 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC reduced its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,305 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 54 shares during the quarter. Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 17.1% during the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 2,734 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Trust Co raised its holdings in American Express by 10.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 2,267 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. KG&L Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 48.2% during the third quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC now owns 2,064 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 7.9% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,210 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 9.2% during the third quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,415 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $808,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $221.00 price objective (up previously from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $209.52.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 210,920 shares of company stock valued at $45,804,652. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded down $1.46 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $235.64. 2,993,335 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,154,841. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $240.55. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $222.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $191.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that American Express will post 12.99 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

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.