American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Acquired by Souders Financial Advisors

Souders Financial Advisors increased its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,088 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Souders Financial Advisors’ holdings in American Express were worth $1,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $283.05 on Wednesday. American Express has a 1 year low of $214.51 and a 1 year high of $326.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $306.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $287.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market cap of $198.85 billion, a PE ratio of 20.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. HSBC boosted their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

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.