American Express Company $AXP Shares Sold by RNC Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• RNC Capital Management LLC significantly reduced its stake in American Express Company by 63.7%, selling over 3,000 shares, with holdings valued at $481,000 at the end of the quarter.
• American Express reported a strong quarterly earnings performance, with $4.08 earnings per share, exceeding estimates and experiencing a 9.3% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82, resulting in a 1.0% yield and a payout ratio of 23.02%.

RNC Capital Management LLC lowered its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 63.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,789 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 3,142 shares during the quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

American Express Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE AXP opened at $326.37 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $313.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $290.81. 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 Company has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $332.46. The firm has a market cap of $227.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. The firm 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 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 20,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total transaction of $15,475,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. This trade represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 157,724 shares of company stock worth $48,227,228 in the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on shares of American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $313.45.

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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