Mizuho Securities USA LLC Sells 8,306 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Key Points

• Mizuho Securities USA LLC has reduced its stake in American Express Company by 15.7%, owning 44,439 shares valued at approximately $11.96 million after selling 8,306 shares.
• Analysts have set a range of new price targets for American Express, with Barclays increasing their target from $249 to $297, while JPMorgan Chase raised theirs from $260 to $342.
• American Express reported a quarterly earnings per share of $4.08, surpassing the consensus estimate and reflecting a 9.3% revenue increase compared to the same quarter last year.

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lessened its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 15.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,439 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 8,306 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $11,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in American Express by 463.3% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,293,259,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,959 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 27,625.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $581,914,000 after acquiring an additional 2,155,045 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of American Express by 186.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $886,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943,463 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 346.2% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $600,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,278,711,000 after purchasing an additional 965,221 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,391,191.50. The trade was a 82.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at $2,677,527.47. The trade was a 87.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,219 shares of company stock valued at $40,555,901 in the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP traded down $1.16 during trading on Monday, reaching $296.27. 2,316,745 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,624,359. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $306.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $290.28. The company has a market cap of $206.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.28. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $329.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.49 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, July 14th. Truist Financial raised their target price on American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $311.05.

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.