American Express Company $AXP Holdings Cut by Swedbank AB

Key Points

• Swedbank AB reduced its stake in American Express by 5.9%, selling 24,118 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with a total of 386,339 shares valued at approximately $103.9 million.
• Institutional ownership of American Express stands at 84.33%, with various investment firms including Voya Investment Management LLC and Hodges Capital Management Inc. increasing their positions in the company.
• American Express reported a strong earnings performance, with $4.08 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, and a 9.3% year-over-year revenue increase.

Swedbank AB lowered its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 5.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 386,339 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 24,118 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned about 0.06% of American Express worth $103,945,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in American Express by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $12,334,299,000 after purchasing an additional 605,900 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,168,445 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $1,454,667,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in American Express by 1.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,093,807 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,370,489,000 after purchasing an additional 78,538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in American Express by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,015,269 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,488,482,000 after buying an additional 408,283 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on shares of American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, July 14th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Eight equities research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $315.20.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP traded up $0.02 on Tuesday, reaching $327.28. 1,986,344 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,871,000. 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 firm's fifty day simple moving average is $313.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $292.08. American Express Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $332.46. The company has a market cap of $227.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.49 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total transaction of $5,011,520.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,653,764.83. The trade was a 65.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total value of $37,034,041.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,614,306.60. This trade represents a 54.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by 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.