American Express Company $AXP Shares Sold by Bull Street Advisors LLC

Bull Street Advisors LLC lowered its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 0.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,430 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. American Express comprises about 1.8% of Bull Street Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Bull Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at about $1,454,667,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in American Express by 13.7% in the first 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 buying an additional 2,168,445 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in American Express by 25.5% in the first 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 buying an additional 965,221 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 605,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Provident Trust Co. acquired a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at about $126,119,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $316.27 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $322.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $300.17. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $220.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.29.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid 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 is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, HSBC set a $295.00 price target on shares of American Express and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $323.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total transaction of $5,011,520.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,653,764.83. This represents a 65.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the company’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 owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.