REAP Financial Group LLC Increases Position in American Express Company $AXP

REAP Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 158.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 468 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $149,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth $37,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $327.61 on Wednesday. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $349.19. The company has a market capitalization of $227.98 billion, a PE ratio of 22.99, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day moving average of $320.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $299.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion during 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.49 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. DZ Bank downgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on American Express and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $323.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total value of $5,011,520.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at $2,653,764.83. The trade was a 65.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total transaction of $15,475,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.