ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $53.55 Million Stock Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 167,871 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 748 shares during the period. American Express comprises approximately 2.0% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $53,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 5.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $183,037,000 after buying an additional 35,295 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its position in shares of American Express by 1.4% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 167,534 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $45,243,000 after buying an additional 2,259 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth $509,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 5,693 shares during the period. Finally, Navis Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,791 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Stock Down 0.1%

American Express stock opened at $330.10 on Friday. 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 $229.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $320.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $298.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.02%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 123,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,343,574.81. This trade represents a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at $2,677,527.47. The trade was a 87.27% 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 three months. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AXP. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $327.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $277.00 target price on shares of American Express and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $319.95.

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.