US Bancorp DE Acquires 11,981 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 459,936 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,981 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE owned about 0.07% of American Express worth $146,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,191 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 869 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 772 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $208,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,921 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,324,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenfield Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of American Express by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Greenfield Savings Bank now owns 13,116 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,184,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $323.86 on Thursday. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $349.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.37 billion, a PE ratio of 22.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $321.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $299.43.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $3.49 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AXP shares. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on shares of American Express and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $297.00 to $336.00 and gave the stock a “cautious” rating in a report on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. DZ Bank cut shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $343.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $323.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total value of $37,034,041.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at $30,614,306.60. This represents a 54.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. This represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270. Company insiders own 0.20% 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.