Schwerin Boyle Capital Management Inc. Sells 8,934 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Schwerin Boyle Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in American Express by 4.7%, selling 8,934 shares, leaving them with 182,714 shares valued at approximately $49.16 million.
• American Express has recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.0%.
• Wall Street analysts have a mixed outlook on American Express, with eight buy ratings, fifteen hold ratings, and two sell ratings, while the average target price is set at $311.05.

Schwerin Boyle Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 4.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 182,714 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 8,934 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for approximately 5.1% of Schwerin Boyle Capital Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Schwerin Boyle Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in American Express were worth $49,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 5.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $183,037,000 after purchasing an additional 35,295 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,259 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth approximately $509,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 5,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Navis Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,791 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total value of $5,011,520.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,312,049.47. This represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 134,219 shares of company stock valued at $40,555,901. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock traded up $4.65 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $327.11. 2,194,774 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,330,824. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $329.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $310.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $290.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The company had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.49 earnings per share. American Express's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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 given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AXP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price objective on American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $311.05.

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.