Waverton Investment Management Ltd Trims Stake in American Express Company $AXP

Waverton Investment Management Ltd reduced its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 0.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 772,767 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 902 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for 3.4% of Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in American Express were worth $246,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,924,000 after buying an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 15.8% in the first quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,787 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,364,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares in the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE increased its position in shares of American Express by 0.4% in the first quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 99,992 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $26,903,000 after buying an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 8.1% in the first quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,146 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,806,000 after buying an additional 1,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 0.8% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 5,236 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total transaction of $7,671,326.85. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Denise Pickett sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.73, for a total value of $1,753,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,709,739.98. This trade represents a 39.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 193,292 shares of company stock valued at $65,363,878 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded American Express from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. DZ Bank upgraded American Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $340.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on American Express from $343.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $332.65.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $365.95 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $338.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $312.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $252.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29. 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 $367.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $18.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.49 earnings per share. American Express has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.200-15.500 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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