American Express Company $AXP Shares Bought by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in American Express by 10%, acquiring a total of 10,495 shares worth approximately $2.82 million.
• Insiders have recently sold over 134,000 shares worth around $40.6 million, with significant transactions from key insiders, resulting in notable decreases in their holdings.
• American Express reported an earnings per share of $4.08, surpassing the analysts’ expectations of $3.86, and its revenue for the quarter reached $17.86 billion.

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 10.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,495 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 952 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $2,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $12,334,299,000 after purchasing an additional 605,900 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of American Express by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,825,135 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,025,632,000 after purchasing an additional 955,811 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth $1,454,667,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,015,269 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,488,482,000 after purchasing an additional 408,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 25.5% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,191.50. This trade represents a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. This represents a 21.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 134,219 shares of company stock worth $40,555,901. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded up $10.7930 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $318.9630. 2,784,219 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,357,253. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $329.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $308.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $290.10. The stock has a market cap of $221.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.