American Express Company $AXP Shares Sold by Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL

Key Points

• Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL reduced its stake in American Express Company by 17.1%, owning 808,830 shares after selling 166,674 shares in the first quarter, which now represents about 6.7% of its investment portfolio.
• American Express reported a 4.08 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates and achieving a revenue increase of 9.3% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $3.28, with a yield of 1.0%, and a payout ratio of 23.02%.

Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL cut its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 17.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 808,830 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 166,674 shares during the period. American Express comprises approximately 6.7% of Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Timucuan Asset Management Inc. FL owned 0.12% of American Express worth $217,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $12,334,299,000 after acquiring an additional 605,900 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 13.7% in the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 2,168,445 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $1,454,667,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,015,269 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,488,482,000 after acquiring an additional 408,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 25.5% in the 1st 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 last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $277.00 target price on American Express and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $311.05.

American Express Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of AXP stock traded up $4.63 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $331.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,980,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,303,076. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $311.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.15. American Express Company has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $332.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. The company has a market cap of $230.77 billion, a PE ratio of 23.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.28.

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. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.49 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,191.50. This trade represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of American Express 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 134,219 shares of company stock worth $40,555,901 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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.