Waverton Investment Management Ltd Has $208.21 Million Holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Waverton Investment Management Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 773,669 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 12,753 shares during the period. American Express accounts for approximately 3.2% of Waverton Investment Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Waverton Investment Management Ltd owned approximately 0.11% of American Express worth $208,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Trillium Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $727,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its stake in shares of American Express by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,510 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Arista Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in American Express by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 3,359 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $997,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc increased its position in American Express by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 2,967 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $880,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Baird R W raised shares of American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $296.05.

American Express Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of AXP stock opened at $311.75 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $218.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $326.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $287.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $288.94.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.48% and a net margin of 15.31%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.33 EPS. Research analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $799,008.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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