BDF Gestion Trims Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

BDF Gestion cut its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 17,271 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 2,244 shares during the period. BDF Gestion’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in American Express by 105.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,000 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 19,400 shares during the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 7.7% in the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its position in American Express by 5.0% in the second quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 978 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in American Express by 2.2% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 848,960 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $196,577,000 after acquiring an additional 17,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in American Express in the second quarter valued at $134,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $294.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE AXP opened at $315.14 on Thursday. American Express has a 52-week low of $199.88 and a 52-week high of $326.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $303.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $276.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

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.