American Express Company $AXP Holdings Decreased by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.

Key Points

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Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lowered its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 172,311 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 1,782 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in American Express were worth $46,366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 5.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $183,037,000 after buying an additional 35,295 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its holdings in American Express by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 167,534 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $45,243,000 after acquiring an additional 2,259 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth $509,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.4% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,458 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $25,088,000 after purchasing an additional 5,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Navis Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 368.7% in the first quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,791 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total transaction of $15,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,219 shares of company stock valued at $40,555,901 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $311.05.

American Express Stock Up 3.5%

American Express stock traded up $10.7930 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $318.9630. 2,784,219 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,924,702. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $307.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $290.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market cap of $221.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 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 announced its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.American Express's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.49 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

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.