Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Decreases Position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Key Points

• Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. decreased its stake in American Express by 6.6% during the 1st quarter, holding 39,300 shares valued at approximately $10.57 million after selling 2,763 shares.
• American Express reported earnings of $4.08 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $17.86 billion, representing a 9.3% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.1%, set to be paid on August 8th.

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,300 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 2,763 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.'s holdings in American Express were worth $10,574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in American Express by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,633 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $781,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. GHE LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 17,021 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $5,052,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 152,682 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $44,434,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shelton Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 38,626 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $11,464,000 after purchasing an additional 8,018 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total transaction of $5,011,520.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,653,764.83. This trade represents a 65.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of 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 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 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.9%

American Express stock traded up $2.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $297.41. 1,778,023 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,640,008. American Express Company has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $329.14. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $306.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $290.91. 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 company has a market cap of $206.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.70 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.49 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. American Express's payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $327.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Redburn Atlantic upgraded American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on American Express and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. DZ Bank lowered American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $311.05.

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.