Banyan Capital Management Inc. Has $9.85 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Banyan Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,170 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 1,788 shares during the period. American Express makes up approximately 5.9% of Banyan Capital Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Banyan Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in American Express were worth $9,845,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE:AXP traded down $8.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $295.48. 1,973,779 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,439,802. The company's 50 day moving average is $307.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $283.79. The company has a market capitalization of $207.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a twelve month low of $212.48 and a twelve month high of $326.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

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.