Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Sells 3,150 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB decreased its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,410 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 3,150 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in American Express were worth $8,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $183,037,000 after acquiring an additional 35,295 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 167,534 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $45,243,000 after acquiring an additional 2,259 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $509,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in American Express by 6.4% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,458 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $25,088,000 after acquiring an additional 5,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Navis Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in American Express by 368.7% during the first quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $955,000 after acquiring an additional 2,791 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $18,360,145.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,677,527.47. The trade was a 87.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $343.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of American Express from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 target price on shares of American Express and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, July 14th. Nine equities 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $323.60.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $323.17 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $322.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $300.77. The stock has a market cap of $224.89 billion, a PE ratio of 22.68, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.29. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $349.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61.

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 firm had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The company’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 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.