Elefante Mark B Has $832,000 Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Elefante Mark B increased its holdings in American Express by 231.9% during the 2nd quarter, bringing its total investment to $832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823 shares.
• Insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares for approximately $15.5 million, representing an 82.03% decrease in her ownership of the company's stock.
• American Express reported $4.08 EPS for the last quarter, beating estimates, with a revenue growth of 9.3% year-over-year to $17.86 billion.

Elefante Mark B increased its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 231.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,609 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,823 shares during the period. Elefante Mark B's holdings in American Express were worth $832,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Express by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $183,037,000 after acquiring an additional 35,295 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its position in shares of American Express by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 167,534 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $45,243,000 after acquiring an additional 2,259 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $509,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in American Express by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,458 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $25,088,000 after purchasing an additional 5,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Navis Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 368.7% in the 1st quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,791 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of several research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on shares of American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $343.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $323.60.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $323.17 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $349.19. The stock has a market cap of $224.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.29. The company's fifty day moving average is $322.66 and its 200 day moving average is $300.77.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. American Express's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. American Express's payout ratio is currently 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.

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