American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Buckhead Capital Management LLC

Buckhead Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 7.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,117 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 1,115 shares during the quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $3,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in American Express by 463.3% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,293,259,000 after buying an additional 3,583,959 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in American Express by 27,625.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $581,914,000 after buying an additional 2,155,045 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 186.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $886,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943,463 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 346.2% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $600,072,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,747 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Bank of America raised American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note 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 given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.68.

American Express Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of AXP stock traded down $6.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $308.38. The stock had a trading volume of 5,478,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,841,088. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $329.14. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $304.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $291.09.

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 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 company had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.49 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.02%.

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.