Stokes Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Stokes Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 32,764 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for approximately 2.2% of Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $8,815,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,752,084 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,484,312,000 after purchasing an additional 268,572 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $1,785,867,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,015,269 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,488,482,000 after buying an additional 408,283 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock opened at $302.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $212.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.61, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $273.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $289.09. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company posted $3.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% 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 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 transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Argus downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.05.

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.