Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Raises Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,949 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,785 shares during the quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.'s holdings in American Express were worth $14,231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 26,783.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,467,210,000 after purchasing an additional 906,353 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 8.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in American Express by 924.2% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $197,149,000 after acquiring an additional 768,301 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 59,816.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 682,443 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $185,079,000 after purchasing an additional 681,304 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 71.9% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $269,547,000 after purchasing an additional 486,755 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 owns 6,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays boosted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Compass Point raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $278.09.

American Express Stock Up 0.4 %

AXP stock traded up $1.27 during trading on Friday, reaching $312.75. The stock had a trading volume of 2,180,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,022,091. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $220.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a one year low of $177.81 and a one year high of $315.40. The company's 50 day moving average is $299.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $271.98.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. American Express's quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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