Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in American Express Company $AXP

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 34.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,205 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,334,299,000 after acquiring an additional 605,900 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew 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 valued at $4,849,777,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168,445 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,454,667,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,370,489,000 after purchasing an additional 78,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,278,711,000 after purchasing an additional 965,221 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $343.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $327.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $323.55.

American Express Stock Down 1.3%

AXP stock opened at $323.86 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $321.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $299.43. American Express Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $349.19. The company has a market cap of $225.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.49 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $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 dividend payout ratio is 23.02%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total value of $5,011,520.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at $2,653,764.83. This represents a 65.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider owned 20,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Company 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.