Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Sells 20,339 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC cut its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 5.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 362,362 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 20,339 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned 0.05% of American Express worth $97,494,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AXP. BNC Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 1.1% during the first quarter. BNC Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,066 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $4,054,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. BigSur Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. BigSur Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,655 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,252,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. now owns 4,091 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,101,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of American Express by 22.9% during the first quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 2,526 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $680,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of American Express from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $296.05.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP traded up $2.08 on Friday, reaching $298.50. 5,687,027 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,835,800. The stock has a market cap of $209.13 billion, a PE ratio of 20.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $282.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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 that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.