American Express Company $AXP Shares Sold by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Key Points

• Park Avenue Securities LLC has reduced its stake in American Express by 17.9%, now holding 22,972 shares valued at approximately $7.33 million.
• Insider transactions revealed significant stock sales, with two insiders selling a total of 22,498 shares worth over $6.7 million in recent trades.
• American Express reported earnings of $4.08 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $17.86 billion, marking a 9.3% annual increase.

Park Avenue Securities LLC lowered its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 17.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,972 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 5,023 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $7,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new stake in American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on AXP shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. DZ Bank cut American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 target price on shares of American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $315.20.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock traded up $0.61 on Monday, hitting $341.73. 3,327,074 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,638,350. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $345.51. 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 stock has a market cap of $237.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $315.10 and a 200-day moving average of $294.01.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.49 EPS. The business's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total value of $37,034,041.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,614,306.60. This trade represents a 54.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total value of $5,011,520.34. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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.