Ninety One UK Ltd Reduces Holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Ninety One UK Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 42.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,027 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 76,091 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd's holdings in American Express were worth $27,450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,924,000 after buying an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,633 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. GHE LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 17,021 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $5,052,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,409 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 1,543 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Stock Down 1.8%

American Express stock traded down $5.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $319.49. 2,090,080 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,848,618. The company has a market cap of $223.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $329.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $300.79 and a 200-day moving average of $290.59.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 target price on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $305.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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.