Herbst Group LLC Sells 1,905 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Herbst Group LLC trimmed its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,136 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 1,905 shares during the quarter. American Express comprises 2.2% of Herbst Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Herbst Group LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $3,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock traded up $1.27 during trading on Friday, reaching $312.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,180,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,022,091. American Express has a one year low of $177.81 and a one year high of $315.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market cap of $220.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. The business's fifty day moving average price is $299.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $271.98.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.48 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business'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 sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $278.09.

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.