Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Acquires 965,221 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has increased its holdings in American Express by 25.5%, now owning approximately 4.75 million shares valued at about $1.28 billion.
• American Express recently reported an EPS of $4.08, exceeding analyst expectations, with a quarterly revenue of $17.86 billion, representing a 9.3% year-over-year increase.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share was declared, with a payout ratio of 23.02%, to be distributed to shareholders on August 8th.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 25.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 965,221 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.68% of American Express worth $1,278,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at about $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 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 insiders.

American Express Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded up $2.68 during trading on Friday, reaching $297.41. 1,778,023 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,640,008. The stock has a market cap of $206.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $306.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $290.91. American Express Company has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $329.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.49 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued 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 is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AXP. DZ Bank downgraded shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $327.00 price objective (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $311.05.

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.