Equity Investment Corp Sells 32,968 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Equity Investment Corp decreased its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 13.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 209,357 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 32,968 shares during the period. Equity Investment Corp's holdings in American Express were worth $56,328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,924,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,633 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $781,000 after buying an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. GHE LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 17,021 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $5,052,000 after buying an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,409 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,012,000 after buying an additional 661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,420 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,609,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of AXP traded down $8.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $306.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,955,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,848,094. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $303.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $291.05. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $329.14. The firm has a market cap of $214.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.48% and a net margin of 15.31%. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.49 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $327.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.68.

Insider Transactions at American Express

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