Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp Has $1.29 Million Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp trimmed its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,897 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 343 shares during the period. Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,292,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 5,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings in American Express by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 4,894 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $917,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 1.2% during the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,566 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,041,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 23,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,349,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC now owns 4,181 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $783,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded down $0.17 during trading on Thursday, hitting $217.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,893,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,075,617. The company has a 50-day moving average of $219.56 and a 200-day moving average of $187.58. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $231.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market cap of $157.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.64 by ($0.02). American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 24.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AXP. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $221.00 price objective (up from $220.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine 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 $201.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,022,097.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,248,905.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.