Pinnacle Wealth Management LLC Sells 7,209 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Pinnacle Wealth Management LLC significantly reduced its stake in American Express by 85.2%, selling 7,209 shares and retaining 1,255 shares valued at $338,000.
• Numerous hedge funds, including Principal Financial Group and Mirae Asset Global Investments, have recently increased their investments in American Express, indicating ongoing institutional interest in the company's stock.
• American Express reported quarterly earnings of $4.08 per share, surpassing estimates, while announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.82, giving an annualized yield of 1.1%.

Pinnacle Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 85.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,255 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 7,209 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Management LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in American Express by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $183,037,000 after acquiring an additional 35,295 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its stake in American Express by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 167,534 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $45,243,000 after acquiring an additional 2,259 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in American Express by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,458 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $25,088,000 after acquiring an additional 5,693 shares in the last quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Express by 368.7% in the 1st quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $955,000 after acquiring an additional 2,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in American Express by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 95,443 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $25,679,000 after acquiring an additional 7,822 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $327.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" 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 dropped their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $311.05.

American Express Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE AXP opened at $305.36 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $307.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.97. The stock has a market cap of $212.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month 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.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.49 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at $2,653,764.83. This represents a 65.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 82.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,219 shares of company stock worth $40,555,901 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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