Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Reduces Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC reduced its stake in American Express by 5.7%, owning 45,646 shares valued at approximately $12.28 million after selling 2,778 shares in the 1st quarter.
• American Express reported strong Q2 earnings with $4.08 earnings per share, outperforming the consensus estimate by $0.22, and a 9.3% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, yielding 1.1%, with a payout ratio currently at 23.02%.

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC trimmed its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 5.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,646 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 2,778 shares during the period. American Express accounts for about 0.7% of Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $12,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,191.50. The trade was a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,219 shares of company stock worth $40,555,901 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. BTIG Research set a $277.00 target price on American Express and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. DZ Bank cut shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $327.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price target on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $311.05.

American Express Trading Up 3.5%

AXP traded up $10.7930 during trading on Friday, reaching $318.9630. The company had a trading volume of 2,784,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,357,253. The stock has a market cap of $221.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $308.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $290.10. American Express Company has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $329.14. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The company had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.49 earnings per share. American Express's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.02%.

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.