Brucke Financial Inc. Sells 243 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Brucke Financial Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 7.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,071 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 243 shares during the quarter. American Express comprises approximately 0.7% of Brucke Financial Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Brucke Financial Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $12,334,299,000 after purchasing an additional 605,900 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $4,849,777,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168,445 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth $1,454,667,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in American Express by 1.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,093,807 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,370,489,000 after acquiring an additional 78,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew 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 worth $1,278,711,000 after acquiring an additional 965,221 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,312,049.47. This represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,614,306.60. The trade was a 54.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. BTIG Research set a $277.00 target price on shares of American Express and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of American Express from $311.00 to $362.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $323.60.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $316.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $322.16 and a 200-day moving average of $300.00. The firm has a market cap of $220.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.29. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $349.19.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS 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 paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.