Vicus Capital Has $379,000 Stock Position in American Express Company $AXP

Vicus Capital cut its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 46.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,189 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,037 shares during the period. Vicus Capital’s holdings in American Express were worth $379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,454,667,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of American Express by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,849,777,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168,445 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,278,711,000 after purchasing an additional 965,221 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,334,299,000 after buying an additional 605,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Provident Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at $126,119,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.6%

AXP opened at $330.60 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $319.64 and a 200-day moving average of $297.78. The company has a market capitalization of $230.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.29. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $349.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.02%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total transaction of $15,475,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of American Express from $311.00 to $362.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. DZ Bank cut shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $319.95.

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.