SageView Advisory Group LLC Sells 2,261 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

SageView Advisory Group LLC trimmed its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 20.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,663 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 2,261 shares during the quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,973,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of American Express by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,019,004 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $232,017,000 after purchasing an additional 98,800 shares during the period. Texas Yale Capital Corp. raised its holdings in American Express by 2.1% during the first quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 2,916 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $664,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 37.8% during the first quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 9.6% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 681,043 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $155,067,000 after acquiring an additional 59,479 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 8.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $590,940,000 after acquiring an additional 195,876 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on AXP. TD Cowen boosted their price target on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $227.65.

American Express Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of AXP stock traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $249.20. 3,885,184 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,004,293. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $253.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $235.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total value of $3,578,087.46. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,957,361.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total value of $729,842.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,948.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total value of $3,578,087.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 16,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,957,361.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 177,717 shares of company stock worth $41,680,999. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.