American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Shares Bought by Solitude Financial Services

Key Points

• Solitude Financial Services increased its stake in American Express by 28.3% during the 1st quarter, now owning 5,123 shares valued at approximately $1.38 million.
• Insider sales saw significant activity, with Howard Grosfield selling 9,450 shares and Glenda G. Mcneal selling 50,000 shares for totals of about $2.6 million and $15.5 million, respectively.
• American Express recently reported strong earnings, with an EPS of $4.08, surpassing expectations and showing a revenue increase of 9.3% year-over-year.

Solitude Financial Services raised its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 28.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,123 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,130 shares during the period. American Express makes up 0.5% of Solitude Financial Services' portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Solitude Financial Services' holdings in American Express were worth $1,378,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in shares of American Express by 24.9% during 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 in the last quarter. GHE LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 2.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,979 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $587,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of American Express by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 290,864 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $86,326,000 after buying an additional 66,956 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $18,360,145.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,677,527.47. The trade was a 87.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 117,221 shares of company stock valued at $35,544,381 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. DZ Bank downgraded American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $311.05.

American Express Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:AXP traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $294.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,842,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,971,929. 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 capitalization of $205.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $306.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $291.17. American Express Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $329.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS 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 in the previous year, the company posted $3.49 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.02%.

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.