Capital Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 54,551 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Express Company by 51.8%, acquiring an additional 54,551 shares, bringing its total ownership to 159,809 shares valued at approximately $50.98 million.
• American Express reported earnings of $4.08 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates of $3.86, with a revenue rise of 9.3% compared to the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, set to be paid on November 10th, representing an annualized dividend of $3.28 and a yield of 1.0%.

Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 51.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 159,809 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 54,551 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $50,976,000 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 the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in American Express by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $12,334,299,000 after acquiring an additional 605,900 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in American Express by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $4,849,777,000 after acquiring an additional 2,168,445 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,454,667,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in American Express by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,093,807 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,370,489,000 after acquiring an additional 78,538 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in American Express by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,278,711,000 after acquiring an additional 965,221 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.2%

AXP stock opened at $342.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $318.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $296.86. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $349.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market cap of $238.17 billion, a PE ratio of 24.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. American Express's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. American Express's payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AXP. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $311.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $327.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $317.75.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $18,360,145.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,677,527.47. The trade was a 87.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total transaction of $7,671,326.85. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 123,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,343,574.81. The trade was a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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.

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