Merit Financial Group LLC Has $5.34 Million Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 27.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,997 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,875 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 430.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC grew its position in American Express by 9.8% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI raised its holdings in American Express by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $25,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,557 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 7,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of American Express by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $655,137,000 after purchasing an additional 247,864 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 over the last three months. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.09.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock opened at $312.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a twelve month low of $177.81 and a twelve month high of $315.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $299.26 and its 200-day moving average is $271.73. The company has a market cap of $220.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 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.