Northern Trust Corp Sells 151,096 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has reduced its stake in American Express by 2.2%, now holding over 6.67 million shares valued at approximately $1.8 billion.
• American Express reported higher-than-expected earnings for the last quarter, with an EPS of $4.08, surpassing estimates of $3.86, and a revenue of $17.86 billion.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.82 per share, representing a 1.1% dividend yield, with a payout ratio of 23.02%.

Northern Trust Corp lowered its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,674,039 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 151,096 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.95% of American Express worth $1,795,650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AXP. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,924,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 24.9% in the 4th 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 period. GHE LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.7% in the 4th 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 period. Capital International Sarl lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 54.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 3,673 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 1,289 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,704,271 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,099,391,000 after purchasing an additional 74,977 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, July 14th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on shares of American Express and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $327.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $311.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total value of $5,011,520.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at $2,653,764.83. This trade represents a 65.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 134,219 shares of company stock worth $40,555,901 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock traded up $0.02 on Thursday, reaching $308.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,848,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,925,302. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $307.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.14. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $329.14. 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 company has a market capitalization of $214.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. American Express's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.