11,110 Shares in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Acquired by Entropy Technologies LP

Key Points

• Entropy Technologies LP acquired 11,110 shares of American Express worth approximately $2.99 million, marking a strategic investment during the first quarter.
• Insider trading activity saw Laureen Seeger and Anna Marrs sell a combined total of over 22,000 shares, significantly reducing their holdings in the company.
• Analysts generally favor American Express with an average target price of $311.05, but two analysts have assigned a sell rating to the stock amidst mixed investment sentiments.

Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 11,110 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $2,989,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,825,135 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,025,632,000 after acquiring an additional 955,811 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,015,269 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,488,482,000 after acquiring an additional 408,283 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 463.3% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,293,259,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,959 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock traded down $1.16 on Monday, hitting $296.27. 2,316,745 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,624,359. 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 Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $329.14. The stock has a market cap of $206.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average of $306.61 and a 200 day moving average of $290.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.49 EPS. American Express's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict 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 was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total value of $5,011,520.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,653,764.83. This represents a 65.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 134,219 shares of company stock worth $40,555,901 in the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Barclays boosted their target price on American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. 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. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $327.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $311.05.

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.