American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Chemung Canal Trust Co.

Chemung Canal Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,961 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 1,589 shares during the period. American Express accounts for 1.3% of Chemung Canal Trust Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Chemung Canal Trust Co.'s holdings in American Express were worth $6,221,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $281.00.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP traded down $5.00 on Friday, hitting $320.87. 6,256,039 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,894,205. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 1-year low of $186.43 and a 1-year high of $326.27. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $302.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $274.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. As a group, analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express's payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

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.