RB Capital Management LLC Sells 87 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

RB Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,554 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 87 shares during the quarter. RB Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of American Express by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,920 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $735,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in American Express by 52.6% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 693,258 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $129,875,000 after purchasing an additional 238,955 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 11,587 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,171,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the period. One Day In July LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $223,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock traded down $2.57 on Wednesday, hitting $231.46. 4,140,431 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,207,239. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $240.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $223.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $193.22. The company has a market cap of $166.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

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

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AXP. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 26th. Stephens upgraded shares of American Express from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $148.00 to $193.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 57,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 203,891 shares of company stock valued at $44,373,196 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.