American Express Company $AXP Shares Purchased by Wellington Management Group LLP

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in American Express by 13.7%, acquiring an additional 2,168,445 shares, bringing its total ownership to 18,025,562 shares valued at approximately $4.85 billion.
• Insiders sold a total of 134,219 shares worth over $40.5 million recently, indicating a significant decrease in their ownership percentages, with insider Anna Marrs reducing her stake by 21.31%.
• American Express reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, exceeding estimates by $0.22, along with a 9.3% revenue increase year-over-year, totaling $17.86 billion.

Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 13.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,168,445 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for approximately 0.9% of Wellington Management Group LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 2.57% of American Express worth $4,849,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price target on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. DZ Bank downgraded shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $311.05.

American Express Price Performance

AXP traded up $10.7930 during trading on Friday, reaching $318.9630. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,783,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,924,648. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $307.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $290.08. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $329.14. The company has a market cap of $221.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.38, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $17.86 billion for 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 revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.02%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction 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 represents 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 in the last 90 days. 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.