Smith Salley Wealth Management Has $4.20 Million Stake in American Express Company $AXP

Smith Salley Wealth Management cut its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,171 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 179 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,924,000 after buying an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $523,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in American Express by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,605 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in American Express by 27,625.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $581,914,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155,045 shares during the period. Finally, Doliver Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 18.4% in the 1st quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 4,301 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,157,000 after buying an additional 668 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $315.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total transaction of $37,034,041.92. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $18,360,145.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,677,527.47. This trade represents a 87.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of American Express stock opened at $342.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $317.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $296.05. American Express Company has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $349.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $238.04 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 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 the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The company’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.49 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.