Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Sells 17,500 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund sold 17,500 shares of American Express, reducing its holding by 17.4% to 83,363 shares, with a current value of approximately $22.4 million.
• Several institutional investors added new stakes in American Express, with 84.33% of the stock owned by institutional investors as of the latest disclosures.
• American Express reported a strong Q2 earnings with an EPS of $4.08, exceeding expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, reflecting a 1.1% dividend yield.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund reduced its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 17.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,363 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 17,500 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in American Express were worth $22,429,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the first quarter worth $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new stake in American Express during the first quarter worth $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the first quarter worth $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 10,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,219 shares of company stock valued at $40,555,901 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 target price on American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $327.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $311.05.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $307.14 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $306.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $290.48. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $329.14. The company has a market cap of $213.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.55, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.28.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio 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.

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