HCR Wealth Advisors Sells 504 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

HCR Wealth Advisors lowered its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 24.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,570 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 504 shares during the period. HCR Wealth Advisors’ holdings in American Express were worth $501,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,334,299,000 after acquiring an additional 605,900 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,454,667,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 1.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,093,807 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,370,489,000 after buying an additional 78,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,278,711,000 after purchasing an additional 965,221 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of American Express 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 sale, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total value of $7,671,326.85. Following the transaction, the insider owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at $40,343,574.81. This trade represents a 15.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $327.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on American Express and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $317.75.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $342.26 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. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $349.19. The stock has a market cap of $238.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.02, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $318.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $296.86.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

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