Equitable Trust Co. Trims Stock Position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Key Points

• Equitable Trust Co. reduced its stake in American Express by 5.8%, now holding 57,839 shares valued at approximately $15.56 million.
• American Express recently reported $4.08 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.86, with a 9.3% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.06%, reflecting a dividend payout ratio of 23.02%.

Equitable Trust Co. cut its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 5.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 57,839 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 3,543 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up approximately 0.9% of Equitable Trust Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Equitable Trust Co.'s holdings in American Express were worth $15,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE AXP opened at $308.21 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $304.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $291.30. The stock has a market cap of $214.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $329.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. 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 company posted $3.49 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.

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