Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 5,653 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Wright Investors Service Inc. lowered its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 18.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 25,078 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 5,653 shares during the period. American Express makes up 1.3% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $2,028,913,000 after acquiring an additional 13,720,460 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $911,554,000. Boston Partners purchased a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $210,540,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake 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 valued at $289,885,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CI Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $124,325,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded up $3.45 on Thursday, hitting $221.12. The company had a trading volume of 921,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,034,660. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $219.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.58. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year 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 has a market capitalization of $160.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($0.02). American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.18%. American Express’s payout ratio is 24.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $221.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $201.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388. 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.