American Express Company $AXP Stake Cut by Bar Harbor Wealth Management

Bar Harbor Wealth Management cut its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,167 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 36 shares during the period. Bar Harbor Wealth Management’s holdings in American Express were worth $691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the first quarter worth $29,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the first quarter worth $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the first quarter worth $37,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the second quarter worth $37,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the first quarter worth $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the 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 $2,677,527.47. This trade represents a 87.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on American Express and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings raised American Express from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $323.55.

American Express Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:AXP opened at $324.09 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $349.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $321.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $299.74.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.49 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. 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 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.