Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 354 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lessened its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 195,382 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 354 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $62,323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in American Express during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, PFS Partners LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total transaction of $7,671,326.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 123,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,343,574.81. This trade represents a 15.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 approximately $30,614,306.60. The trade was a 54.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. 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 research report on Friday, July 11th. DZ Bank cut shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $318.80.

American Express Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of AXP opened at $332.26 on Wednesday. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $318.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $297.10. American Express Company has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $349.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $231.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.28.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a 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.