American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Graypoint LLC

Graypoint LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,141 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the quarter. Graypoint LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. RMR Wealth Builders lifted its position in American Express by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,666 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,275,000 after buying an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI lifted its position in American Express by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $25,626,000 after buying an additional 2,557 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in American Express by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 11,963 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,550,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank lifted its position in shares of American Express by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 7,526 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,234,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 311,029 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $84,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,770 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Compass Point boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $272.64.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 2.9 %

AXP stock opened at $294.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 1-year low of $177.81 and a 1-year high of $307.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $296.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $269.09. The firm has a market cap of $207.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

American Express Company Profile

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.