Captrust Financial Advisors Sells 37,896 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Captrust Financial Advisors trimmed its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 20.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 146,077 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 37,896 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in American Express were worth $33,260,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $27,483,000. Lavaca Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC now owns 5,471 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 5,895 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 16,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,673,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 39.8% in the 1st quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,444 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total value of $729,842.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 258 shares in the company, valued at $59,948.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total value of $729,842.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 258 shares in the company, valued at $59,948.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total transaction of $3,578,087.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 16,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,957,361.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 138,844 shares of company stock worth $32,404,735 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AXP. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, April 5th. TD Cowen increased their price target on American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective on American Express from $247.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, HSBC raised their price objective on American Express from $232.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $230.70.

American Express Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE AXP traded up $2.81 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $250.70. The company had a trading volume of 1,093,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,996,508. The company has a market capitalization of $178.23 billion, a PE ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $236.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $224.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $253.73.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The business had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.89 earnings per share. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that American Express will post 13.24 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

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.