American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Moors & Cabot Inc.

Key Points

• Moors & Cabot Inc. reduced its stake in American Express Company by 8.7%, selling 884 shares for a total holding of $2,505,000.
• Insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of American Express at an average price of $309.50, leading to an 82.03% decrease in her ownership.
• American Express announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 to be paid on August 8th, representing a 1.1% dividend yield.

Moors & Cabot Inc. decreased its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 8.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,312 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 884 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.'s holdings in American Express were worth $2,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of American Express by 357.6% during the 1st quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,063 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,169,000 after buying an additional 6,301 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in American Express by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 447,955 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $120,523,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in American Express by 92.2% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 15,407 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $4,145,000 after purchasing an additional 7,391 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in American Express by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,560 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,496,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 27,277 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $7,339,000 after purchasing an additional 2,231 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP traded up $4.27 on Monday, reaching $298.54. The stock had a trading volume of 1,875,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,627,181. 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 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The business's 50-day moving average price is $306.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $291.20. The company has a market cap of $207.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28.

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. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.49 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.1%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AXP. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $311.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 64,950 shares of company stock worth $19,787,710. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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.