G&S Capital LLC Trims Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

G&S Capital LLC lessened its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,155 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 55 shares during the period. G&S Capital LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $491,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $909,575,000 after acquiring an additional 496,153 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $713,202,000 after acquiring an additional 667,695 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,399,494 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $449,521,000 after acquiring an additional 919,337 shares during the period. Finally, Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. raised its holdings in American Express by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 2,067,858 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $387,392,000 after buying an additional 142,763 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $230.68 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $165.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.00, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.22. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $244.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $215.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $220.30.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total transaction of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at $18,209,855.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total value of $27,267,303.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 110,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,642,315.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.63, for a total value of $9,276,263.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 76,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,209,855.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 177,717 shares of company stock worth $41,680,999 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Company 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.