Ethic Inc. Has $21.30 Million Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its stake in American Express by 1.8% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 1,421 shares, bringing its total holdings to 78,736 shares valued at approximately $21.3 million.
• Insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares worth about $1.7 million, while another insider, Glenda G. Mcneal, sold 50,000 shares for approximately $15.5 million, resulting in significant decreases in their respective ownership percentages.
• American Express reported a quarterly earnings per share of $4.08, exceeding analyst expectations, and announced a dividend of $0.82 per share, which reflects a dividend yield of 1.1%.

Ethic Inc. raised its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,736 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 1,421 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in American Express were worth $21,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $12,334,299,000 after acquiring an additional 605,900 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,825,135 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,025,632,000 after buying an additional 955,811 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth approximately $1,454,667,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.9% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 408,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on AXP. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 target price on shares of American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Barclays increased 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 raised shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $327.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $311.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total value of $5,011,520.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,653,764.83. This trade represents a 65.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,219 shares of company stock valued at $40,555,901 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $2.37 on Friday, reaching $305.36. 2,727,229 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,393,708. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $329.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $307.22 and a 200 day moving average of $289.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.49 billion, a PE ratio of 21.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.