Forza Wealth Management LLC Has $366,000 Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Forza Wealth Management LLC cut its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,608 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 70 shares during the quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Pacifica Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on American Express from $188.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 5th. DZ Bank downgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.52.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $17,979,771.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 210,920 shares of company stock worth $45,804,652 over the last 90 days. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP traded up $3.28 on Monday, hitting $238.92. 3,691,367 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,201,667. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $240.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $223.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $192.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company has a market cap of $171.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that American Express will post 12.99 EPS for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.06%.

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.