American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd cut its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 15.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,480 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 3,786 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd's holdings in American Express were worth $5,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Redburn Atlantic raised American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $311.05.

American Express Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of AXP stock traded up $2.56 on Tuesday, hitting $305.53. The stock had a trading volume of 1,313,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,834,543. The company's 50 day moving average price is $304.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $291.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.69. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $329.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.25.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.49 EPS. American Express's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. American Express's payout ratio is currently 23.02%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company'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 sale, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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.