Invst LLC Grows Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Invst LLC lifted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,050 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Invst LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $305,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $73,303,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in American Express by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,500 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $743,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GTS Securities LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 104.4% in the 4th quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 2,611 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $775,000 after buying an additional 61,731 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AXP. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express 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 value of $799,008.54. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $285.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $199.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $269.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $288.64.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 company earned $3.33 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th were issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This is a boost 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.