EP Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stake in American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Express by 6.6%, bringing its total to 28,395 shares valued at approximately $7.64 million.
• Insider sales were noted, with Laureen Seeger selling 16,998 shares at an average price of $294.83, representing a significant reduction in her ownership by 65.38%.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" for American Express, with target prices ranging from $277.00 to $340.00 per share.

EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,395 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,754 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $7,640,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in American Express by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $183,037,000 after purchasing an additional 35,295 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its holdings in American Express by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 167,534 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $45,243,000 after purchasing an additional 2,259 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $509,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in American Express by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,458 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $25,088,000 after purchasing an additional 5,693 shares during the period. Finally, Navis Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 368.7% during the 1st quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $955,000 after acquiring an additional 2,791 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $18,360,145.87. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,677,527.47. The trade was a 87.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total transaction of $7,671,326.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at $40,343,574.81. The trade was a 15.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 157,724 shares of company stock worth $48,227,228 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on shares of American Express and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $327.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $313.45.

American Express Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE:AXP traded down $4.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $326.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,971,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,244,027. The firm has a market capitalization of $227.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $313.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $290.90. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $332.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.49 EPS. Research analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. American Express's payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

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.