Caxton Associates LLP Invests $1.49 Million in American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Caxton Associates LLP has invested approximately $1.49 million in American Express by purchasing 5,532 shares in the first quarter.
• The company reported earnings of $4.08 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $3.86, and its revenue grew by 9.3% year-over-year.
• American Express's stock has a current consensus rating of "Hold" among eight research analysts, with a price target averaging $313.45.

Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,532 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $1,488,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth approximately $1,454,667,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 13.7% during the first 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. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 27,625.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $581,914,000 after acquiring an additional 2,155,045 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 25.5% during the first 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. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $187,337,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of several recent research reports. DZ Bank cut American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $313.45.

American Express Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE AXP traded down $3.84 on Friday, reaching $325.48. The company had a trading volume of 2,000,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,294,247. The firm has a market cap of $226.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.28. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $332.46. The business has a 50 day moving average of $313.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $291.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 business posted $3.49 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total transaction of $15,475,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 10,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.