Empowered Funds LLC Reduces Position in American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC significantly reduced its stake in American Express by 67% in the first quarter, holding 12,141 shares valued at approximately $3.27 million.
• American Express recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, with a annualized yield of 1.0% and a payout ratio of 23.02%.
• A range of analysts have issued ratings on American Express, with the consensus rating being a "Hold" and a target price of $313.45.

Empowered Funds LLC decreased its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 67.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,141 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 24,624 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $3,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $313.45.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $325.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $332.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $313.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.02%.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at $40,343,574.81. This trade represents a 15.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider 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 in the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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