Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Reduces Stock Position in American Express Company $AXP

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lessened its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 1.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,169 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of 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 report on Monday, July 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $315.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $18,360,145.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,677,527.47. The trade was a 87.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total transaction of $37,034,041.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,614,306.60. This represents a 54.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 2.7%

AXP stock opened at $335.87 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $337.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $233.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $313.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $292.62.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

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.