Apollon Wealth Management LLC Reduces Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Apollon Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,259 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 422 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AXP. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 3.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,039 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,163,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of American Express by 117.8% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 27,419 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $7,377,000 after purchasing an additional 181,049 shares in the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 31.1% during the first quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total value of $18,360,145.87. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,677,527.47. This trade represents a 87.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. The trade was a 82.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $327.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $343.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $323.60.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $316.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market cap of $220.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day moving average is $322.16 and its 200 day moving average is $300.17. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $349.19.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.02%.

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.