Venturi Wealth Management LLC Acquires 184 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,013 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BankPlus Trust Department grew its position in shares of American Express by 115.3% during the 2nd quarter. BankPlus Trust Department now owns 2,823 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $900,000 after purchasing an additional 1,512 shares in the last quarter. Canopy Partners LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 6,199 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,977,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of American Express by 173.1% during the 2nd quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,237 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,418 shares in the last quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. grew its position in shares of American Express by 41.9% during the 2nd quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 32,476 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $10,359,000 after purchasing an additional 9,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Solitude Financial Services grew its position in shares of American Express by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Solitude Financial Services now owns 6,193 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,975,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. The trade was a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $327.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on shares of American Express and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $297.00 to $336.00 and gave the stock a “cautious” rating in a report on Monday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $323.55.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $327.61 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $227.98 billion, a PE ratio of 22.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $320.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.26. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $349.19.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.02%.

American Express 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.