Norden Group LLC Increases Stake in American Express Company $AXP

Norden Group LLC grew its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 3.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,368 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,454,667,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,849,777,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168,445 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 27,625.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $581,914,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155,045 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,278,711,000 after purchasing an additional 965,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,334,299,000 after purchasing an additional 605,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $341.74 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $315.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $294.34. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $349.19. The company has a market capitalization of $237.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,614,306.60. This trade represents a 54.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s 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 directly 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 quarter, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 target price on shares of American Express and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $315.20.

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.