Plato Investment Management Ltd Sells 1,833 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Plato Investment Management Ltd reduced its holdings in American Express by 8.3%, selling 1,833 shares in the 1st quarter, leaving them with 20,341 shares valued at approximately $5,532,000.
• Several institutional investors increased their positions in American Express, with Brighton Jones LLC and Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosting their stakes by 24.4% and 24.9%, respectively.
• American Express announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.0%, and has a current consensus rating of "Hold" from analysts.

Plato Investment Management Ltd reduced its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 8.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,341 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 1,833 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd's holdings in American Express were worth $5,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new stake in American Express in the first quarter worth $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the first quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the first quarter valued at $37,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AXP. 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 report on Monday, July 21st. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on shares of American Express and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $313.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. This represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $18,360,145.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,677,527.47. This trade represents a 87.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock traded down $3.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $325.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,000,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,294,247. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $313.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $291.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $332.46. The company has a market capitalization of $226.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 1.75 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. Sell-side analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.02%.

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.