Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Sells 1,836 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 13.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,183 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 1,836 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $3,278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Redburn Atlantic upgraded American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $327.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $305.74.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE:AXP traded down $5.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $319.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,090,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,848,618. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $300.79 and a 200-day moving average of $290.59. The company has a market capitalization of $223.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $329.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.48% and a net margin of 15.31%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. American Express's payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.