Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,762 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $523,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in American Express by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,752,084 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,484,312,000 after buying an additional 268,572 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in American Express by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,761,336 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,600,277,000 after buying an additional 95,927 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in American Express by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,825,135 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,025,632,000 after buying an additional 955,811 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,785,867,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in American Express by 463.3% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,293,259,000 after buying an additional 3,583,959 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AXP shares. Argus downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of American Express from $340.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.05.

American Express Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of American Express stock opened at $299.48 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $266.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $288.02. The company has a market cap of $209.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 22.91%.

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.