American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 15.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,787 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,199 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $2,364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,752,084 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $3,484,312,000 after acquiring an additional 268,572 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in American Express by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,825,135 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,025,632,000 after acquiring an additional 955,811 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,785,867,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $1,488,482,000 after acquiring an additional 408,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in American Express by 463.3% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,293,259,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,959 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Bank of America raised shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. BTIG Research cut their price objective on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $298.05.

American Express Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of AXP traded up $1.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $318.13. 2,424,175 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,840,627. The firm has a market cap of $222.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $329.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $297.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $290.19.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.