American Express Company $AXP Shares Sold by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in American Express by 7.3% during Q1, leaving it with 181,950 shares valued at approximately $48.95 million.
• Insider sales included Anna Marrs offloading 5,500 shares and Laureen Seeger selling 61,721 shares, leading to significant decreases in their holdings.
• American Express reported Q2 earnings of $4.08 per share, exceeding the forecast, with revenue increasing 9.3% year-over-year to $17.86 billion.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC cut its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 181,950 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 14,388 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $48,954,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kitching Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth about $223,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 64.0% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 3,659 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,428 shares in the last quarter. Mirova grew its position in American Express by 6.7% during the first quarter. Mirova now owns 45,785 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $12,318,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its position in American Express by 2.1% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 167,832 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $45,155,000 after purchasing an additional 3,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in American Express by 2.8% in the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 24,178 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $6,505,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. This represents a 21.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $18,360,145.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,677,527.47. This represents a 87.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,219 shares of company stock valued at $40,555,901 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 target price on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $311.05.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $316.0030 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $308.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $289.67. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $329.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

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