Doliver Advisors LP Boosts Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Doliver Advisors LP lifted its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 18.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,301 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the period. Doliver Advisors LP’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in American Express by 463.3% in the 4th 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 during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in American Express by 27,625.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $581,914,000 after buying an additional 2,155,045 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in American Express by 186.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $886,426,000 after buying an additional 1,943,463 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in American Express by 346.2% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $600,072,000 after buying an additional 1,568,747 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Bank of America upgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. BTIG Research reduced their price objective on American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was 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 $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of American Express stock opened at $294.04 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $270.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $326.28. The company has a market cap of $206.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23.

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

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th were issued a $0.82 dividend. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

About American Express

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.