Bank of Hawaii Sells 139 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Bank of Hawaii lowered its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,856 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 139 shares during the quarter. Bank of Hawaii’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,738,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.24.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $262.92 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $184.71 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. American Express has a one year low of $214.51 and a one year high of $326.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $281.71 and a 200-day moving average of $288.51.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About American Express

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.