Vicus Capital Sells 1,037 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Vicus Capital reduced its holdings in American Express by 46.6%, selling 1,037 shares during the second quarter, leaving them with a total of 1,189 shares valued at approximately $379,000.
• The CEO, Stephen J. Squeri, sold 112,272 shares of American Express stock for over $37 million, marking a significant decrease of 54.74% in his ownership.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for American Express, with Deutsche Bank increasing its target from $371.00 to $375.00, while the average price target now stands at $319.95.

Vicus Capital decreased its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 46.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,189 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 1,037 shares during the quarter. Vicus Capital's holdings in American Express were worth $379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, PFS Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 104.0% during the first quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 153 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,614,306.60. The trade was a 54.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AXP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, July 14th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $327.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $319.95.

American Express Stock Up 0.6%

American Express stock opened at $330.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.29. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $319.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $297.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $349.19.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.49 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.02%.

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.

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