Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 32,445 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 68.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,100 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 32,445 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in American Express by 5.0% in the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,284 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $619,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its stake in American Express by 17.8% in the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 6,083 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,650,000 after buying an additional 920 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in American Express by 17.0% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 55,053 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $14,930,000 after buying an additional 7,990 shares in the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. raised its stake in American Express by 2.9% in the third quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 1,655 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in American Express in the third quarter worth about $65,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AXP. BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were 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 directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.5 %

AXP opened at $312.52 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $220.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. American Express has a 1-year low of $209.10 and a 1-year high of $326.27. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $307.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $282.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

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.