Boltwood Capital Management Lowers Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Boltwood Capital Management lessened its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,343 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 59 shares during the quarter. Boltwood Capital Management’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,179,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in American Express in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $268.95.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $302.34. The company had a trading volume of 681,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,495,169. The company has a market capitalization of $212.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $293.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $267.17. American Express has a 12-month low of $177.81 and a 12-month high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. American Express’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 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 given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 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.