Capital A Wealth Management LLC Cuts Holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Capital A Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 45.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 206 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 172 shares during the period. Capital A Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $56,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at about $2,185,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 27.5% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 4,234 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,139,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in shares of American Express by 0.6% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 68,718 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $18,488,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. BluePointe Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 24.2% during the first quarter. BluePointe Capital Management LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Provident Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at about $126,119,000. 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 recently weighed in on AXP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.68.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $310.67 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $217.65 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $329.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $302.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $290.77.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors 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 yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 10,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.