Columbia Asset Management Reduces Stake in American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Columbia Asset Management significantly reduced its stake in American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) by 99.3% during the second quarter, resulting in ownership of only 11,868 shares after selling 1,800,039 shares.
• The company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $3.86, with revenue of $17.86 billion, showing a 9.3% year-over-year growth.
• American Express also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.0%, payable to investors on record as of October 10th.

Columbia Asset Management lowered its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 99.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,868 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 1,800,039 shares during the period. Columbia Asset Management's holdings in American Express were worth $3,786,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,454,667,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in American Express by 13.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $4,849,777,000 after buying an additional 2,168,445 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in American Express by 25.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,278,711,000 after buying an additional 965,221 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in American Express by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $12,334,299,000 after buying an additional 605,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Provident Trust Co. purchased a new stake in American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $126,119,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. This represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of AXP stock opened at $332.26 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $231.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.32, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $318.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $297.10. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $349.19.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%.The business'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, equities research analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 23.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. DZ Bank downgraded American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. 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 report on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $318.80.

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.

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