Moran Wealth Management LLC Trims Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Moran Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 2.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,703 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,985 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $20,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. bought a new stake in American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AXP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. DZ Bank cut American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on American Express from $343.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Nine equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $323.60.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $323.17 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $322.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $300.77. American Express Company has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $349.19. The stock has a market cap of $224.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.29.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.70 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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 given 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 dividend payout ratio is 23.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total value of $37,034,041.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,614,306.60. This represents a 54.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at $2,677,527.47. This trade represents a 87.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270 in the last three months. Corporate 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.