Ritholtz Wealth Management Buys 446 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,310 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Auxier Asset Management grew its stake in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,934,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC grew its position in American Express by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its stake in American Express by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $312.75 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $298.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 52-week low of $177.81 and a 52-week high of $315.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. On average, analysts predict that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’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 approximately $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 have sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $278.09.

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.