Summit Financial LLC Has $7.94 Million Position in American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Summit Financial LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 170.5%, owning 29,500 shares valued at approximately $7.94 million as of the latest reporting period.
• The recent quarterly earnings reported a 9.3% year-over-year increase in revenue, totaling $17.86 billion, and earnings per share (EPS) of $4.08, exceeding estimates.
• American Express also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.1% and a payout ratio of 23.02%.

Summit Financial LLC raised its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 170.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,500 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,593 shares during the quarter. Summit Financial LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $7,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,454,667,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 463.3% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,293,259,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,959 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in American Express by 13.7% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $4,849,777,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168,445 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 27,625.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $581,914,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 346.2% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $600,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,747 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on shares of American Express and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. DZ Bank lowered American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $311.05.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock traded up $10.7930 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $318.9630. 2,784,219 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,357,253. 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 Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $329.14. The company has a market cap of $221.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $308.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $289.89.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. Equities analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.02%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the company's 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 directly owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $18,360,145.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,677,527.47. This represents a 87.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 134,219 shares of company stock valued at $40,555,901. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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.