GFG Capital LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

GFG Capital LLC reduced its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 17.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,602 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 1,805 shares during the period. GFG Capital LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $2,314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Trillium Asset Management LLC increased its stake in American Express by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $727,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,510 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $448,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc boosted its stake in American Express by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 2,967 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $880,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, CFO4Life Group LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 3,410 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America raised shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $327.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Baird R W raised shares of American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $297.25.

American Express Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $317.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $329.14. The company's fifty day moving average is $297.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $290.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given 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 1.03%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About American Express

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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