Grimes & Company Inc. Has $11.91 Million Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Grimes & Company Inc. trimmed its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,118 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 579 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $11,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in American Express during the third quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in American Express by 332.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in American Express during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the third quarter valued at $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $281.00.

American Express Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $320.87 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $302.35 and a 200-day moving average of $274.66. The firm has a market cap of $226.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 12-month low of $186.43 and a 12-month high of $326.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

About American Express

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.