Triangle Securities Wealth Management Lowers Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Triangle Securities Wealth Management reduced its position in American Express by 27% in Q2, holding 1,999 shares valued at $638,000.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for American Express, with eight analysts rating it as a "Buy" and an average price target of $315.20.
• American Express reported strong earnings for the last quarter, with $4.08 earnings per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $3.86.

Triangle Securities Wealth Management trimmed its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 27.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,999 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 738 shares during the period. Triangle Securities Wealth Management's holdings in American Express were worth $638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $315.20.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $18,360,145.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,677,527.47. The trade was a 87.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total value of $7,671,326.85. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 123,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,343,574.81. This represents a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Trading Up 0.2%

AXP stock traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $341.73. 3,295,294 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,905,141. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $314.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $293.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $237.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.98, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.28. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $345.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.49 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About American Express

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.