American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Banyan Capital Management Inc.

Banyan Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 9.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,144 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 3,026 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up approximately 4.6% of Banyan Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Banyan Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in American Express were worth $8,110,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.6% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 68,718 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $18,488,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. BluePointe Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 24.2% in the first quarter. BluePointe Capital Management LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Provident Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $126,119,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 39.0% during the first quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC now owns 3,898 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares during the period. Finally, Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. grew its holdings in American Express by 23.9% during the first quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. now owns 11,048 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,972,000 after acquiring an additional 2,132 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 value 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. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded down $10.25 on Tuesday, hitting $310.67. The company had a trading volume of 3,005,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,844,594. The business has a 50 day moving average of $301.65 and a 200 day moving average of $290.63. American Express Company has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $329.14. The company has a market cap of $217.65 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a return on equity of 32.48% and a net margin of 15.31%. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.06%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.68.

American Express 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.