Victory Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 419,879 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 19,312 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of American Express worth $112,968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Norges Bank bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in American Express by 463.3% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 3,583,959 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $581,914,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155,045 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in American Express by 186.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $886,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $600,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,747 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP traded down $6.97 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $308.38. The stock had a trading volume of 5,503,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,027,198. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. American Express Company has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $329.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $303.71 and a 200 day moving average of $291.05. The stock has a market cap of $216.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.25.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.48% and a net margin of 15.31%. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given 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 1.06%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on shares of American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.