Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Grows Stake in American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. has increased its stake in American Express by 3.2% by acquiring 6,917 additional shares, bringing its total holdings to 225,697 shares valued at approximately $60.7 million.
• American Express reported earnings of $4.08 per share for the quarter, exceeding estimates, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share.
• Important analysts have a mixed outlook for American Express, with the average rating being "Hold", and target prices ranging from $249 to $340 per share.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 225,697 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,917 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in American Express were worth $60,724,000 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 position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP traded up $4.81 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $320.61. The company had a trading volume of 1,848,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,386,326. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The business has a 50-day moving average of $309.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $289.89. The company has a market cap of $223.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.28. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $329.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.70 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders 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 1.0%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 20,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,312,049.47. This represents a 21.31% decrease in their position. 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 quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AXP. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, July 14th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $311.05.

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.