Magnus Financial Group LLC Cuts Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Magnus Financial Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,549 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 102 shares during the quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kennedy Investment Group purchased a new position in American Express in the second quarter worth $214,000. Motive Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in American Express in the second quarter worth $237,000. Herbst Group LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 0.5% in the second quarter. Herbst Group LLC now owns 11,243 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,586,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 1.5% in the second quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 6,633 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,116,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xcel Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 3.1% in the second quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,073 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,213,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on shares of American Express and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Eight equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $315.20.

American Express Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE AXP opened at $340.86 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $237.20 billion, a PE ratio of 23.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day moving average of $316.30 and a 200 day moving average of $294.66. 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.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released 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 net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of American Express stock in a transaction 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 owned 9,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,677,527.47. The trade was a 87.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,614,306.60. The trade was a 54.74% 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 in the last ninety days. 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.