Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Trims Stock Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD has reduced its stake in American Express by 13.8%, now holding 7,266,301 shares valued at approximately $1.95 billion.
• A diverse range of hedge funds, such as PGIM Custom Harvest LLC and GFI Investment Counsel Ltd., have either increased their positions or acquired new stakes in American Express during the first quarter.
• American Express recently reported earnings of $4.08 per share for the quarter, surpassing estimates and reflecting a 9.3% increase in quarterly revenue compared to the previous year.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD cut its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 13.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,266,301 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 1,163,611 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 1.04% of American Express worth $1,954,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Express by 5.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $183,037,000 after purchasing an additional 35,295 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its holdings in American Express by 1.4% in the first 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. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in American Express in the first quarter worth $509,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in American Express by 6.4% in the first 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. Finally, Navis Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 368.7% in the first 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. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock traded up $10.7930 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $318.9630. 2,784,219 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,357,253. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $329.14. The business's 50-day moving average is $308.48 and its 200-day moving average is $289.89.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The company 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%.American Express's revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio is 23.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 target price on American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $311.05.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. This represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the company's 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,653,764.83. This trade represents a 65.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 134,219 shares of company stock worth $40,555,901. 0.20% of the stock is owned by 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.