American Express Company $AXP Shares Sold by Amundi

Key Points

• Amundi reduced its stake in American Express Company (AXP) by 1.5%, owning 2,147,166 shares valued at approximately $532 million after selling 32,005 shares in the first quarter.
• American Express recently reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding expectations, with a revenue of $17.86 billion, up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, with a current annualized yield of 1.0% and a payout ratio of 23.02%.

Amundi lessened its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,147,166 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 32,005 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned approximately 0.31% of American Express worth $532,111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $313.45.

American Express Trading Down 1.3%

AXP traded down $4.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $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 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 market cap of $227.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $313.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $291.03. American Express Company has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $332.46.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.49 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. 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%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total transaction of $7,671,326.85. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 123,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,343,574.81. The trade was a 15.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total value of $5,011,520.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at $2,653,764.83. This trade represents a 65.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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.