King Luther Capital Management Corp Lowers Stock Position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Key Points

• King Luther Capital Management Corp reduced its stake in American Express by 1.0%, holding approximately 617,672 shares valued at $166.18 million after selling 6,144 shares in the first quarter.
• Insiders at American Express sold a total of 134,219 shares valued at over $40.5 million in the last quarter, leading to significant decreases in their respective positions.
• Several research firms revised their ratings on American Express, with Monness Crespi & Hardt downgrading the stock from "buy" to "neutral," while JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target from $260 to $342.

King Luther Capital Management Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 617,672 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 6,144 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned 0.09% of American Express worth $166,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. This represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total transaction of $5,011,520.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,653,764.83. The trade was a 65.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 134,219 shares of company stock valued at $40,555,901. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on shares of American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating 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 assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $311.05.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP traded down $1.16 on Monday, reaching $296.27. 2,316,745 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,624,359. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market cap of $206.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.28. American Express Company has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $329.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $306.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $290.28.

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 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 analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a $0.82 dividend. 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 presently 23.02%.

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.