American Express Company $AXP Stock Holdings Decreased by SageView Advisory Group LLC

Key Points

• SageView Advisory Group LLC reduced its stake in American Express by 11.1% during the first quarter, now holding 7,646 shares valued at approximately $2.06 million.
• Insiders at American Express sold a total of 269,996 shares in the last 90 days, resulting in a significant decrease in ownership for those individuals.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.0%.

SageView Advisory Group LLC cut its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 11.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,646 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 950 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $2,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in American Express by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in American Express by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,633 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $781,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the period. GHE LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 17,021 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $5,052,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 14,521 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $4,310,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $523,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total transaction of $15,475,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. The trade was a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. This represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of American Express stock opened at $324.41 on Wednesday. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $332.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The company has a market capitalization of $225.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $313.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $291.25.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted 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 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 the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's payout ratio is currently 23.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley raised 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 note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on shares of American Express and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $313.45.

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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