Legacy Trust Sells 2,372 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Legacy Trust cut its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 7.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,814 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 2,372 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for about 2.3% of Legacy Trust’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Legacy Trust’s holdings in American Express were worth $9,191,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $12,334,299,000 after acquiring an additional 605,900 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake 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 worth $4,849,777,000 after acquiring an additional 2,168,445 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth approximately $1,454,667,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake 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 worth $1,370,489,000 after acquiring an additional 78,538 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $1,278,711,000 after acquiring an additional 965,221 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $330.10 on Friday. 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 Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $349.19. The company has a market capitalization of $229.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $320.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $298.43.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.02%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,343,574.81. This represents a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $18,360,145.87. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,677,527.47. This represents 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 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 target price on shares of American Express and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $348.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $319.95.

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.