American Express Company $AXP Position Trimmed by Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in American Express Company by 4.2% in the second quarter, holding 21,287 shares valued at approximately $6.79 million.
• American Express reported $4.08 earnings per share for the latest quarter, beating the consensus forecast, and revenue increased by 9.3% year-over-year.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82, with an annualized yield of 1.0%, payable on November 10th to shareholders on record as of October 10th.

Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,287 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 922 shares during the period. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in American Express were worth $6,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in American Express by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $12,334,299,000 after purchasing an additional 605,900 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in American Express by 13.7% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $4,849,777,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168,445 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at $1,454,667,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,093,807 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,370,489,000 after acquiring an additional 78,538 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 25.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,278,711,000 after acquiring an additional 965,221 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock opened at $316.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $220.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $322.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $300.00. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $349.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.49 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. American Express's payout ratio is 23.02%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total transaction of $7,671,326.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,343,574.81. This trade represents a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $311.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on shares of American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $327.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of American Express from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $323.60.

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.

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