Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,157 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,923 shares during the quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 106.4% during the 2nd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 199,952 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $63,781,000 after buying an additional 103,061 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in American Express by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,477,330 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $471,239,000 after acquiring an additional 86,705 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in American Express by 5.9% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 10,270 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,276,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its position in American Express by 1.0% during the second quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 448,042 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $142,916,000 after purchasing an additional 4,421 shares during the period. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its position in American Express by 8.8% during the second quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 62,144 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $19,827,000 after purchasing an additional 5,045 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Elizabeth Rutledge sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.21, for a total value of $18,010,500.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 85,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,825,691.17. This trade represents a 36.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total transaction of $7,671,326.85. Following the sale, the insider owned 123,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,343,574.81. The trade was a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 193,292 shares of company stock valued at $65,363,878 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC set a $295.00 price target on shares of American Express and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on American Express from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered American Express from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $332.65.

American Express Trading Up 0.9%

American Express stock opened at $368.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.61. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $370.00. The stock has a market cap of $254.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.76, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $339.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $314.36.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.98 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $18.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.03 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 14.97%.The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.49 earnings per share. American Express has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.200-15.500 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 22.01%.

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.