Northstar Advisory Group LLC Has $3.07 Million Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Northstar Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,332 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. American Express accounts for 1.6% of Northstar Advisory Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Northstar Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,483,512 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,104,735,000 after acquiring an additional 86,100 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in American Express by 8.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,984,208,000 after purchasing an additional 866,110 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 5.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,606,986 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,249,415,000 after purchasing an additional 239,173 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 0.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,960,842 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,074,168,000 after purchasing an additional 33,193 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $655,137,000 after buying an additional 247,864 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded up $4.03 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $297.33. 2,113,278 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,220,416. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $296.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $269.64. The stock has a market cap of $209.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a one year low of $177.81 and a one year high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $277.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.