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

Smith Salley Wealth Management trimmed its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 1.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, PFS Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 104.0% during the 1st quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 153 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $30,614,306.60. This trade represents a 54.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $342.07 on Friday. 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 Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $349.19. The company 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $317.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $296.05.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $327.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $277.00 target price on shares of 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 given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $315.20.

American Express Company 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.