Bouchey Financial Group Ltd Cuts Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Bouchey Financial Group Ltd lowered its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,207 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 66 shares during the period. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd’s holdings in American Express were worth $358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HC Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $278,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Express by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 140,041 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $41,563,000 after buying an additional 24,279 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 36,719.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,011,790 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $300,289,000 after buying an additional 1,009,042 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Express by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 50,009 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $14,842,000 after buying an additional 4,959 shares during the period. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Express by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 3,359 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $997,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial began coverage on American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their target price on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

American Express Trading Down 0.7 %

American Express stock opened at $294.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 52 week low of $214.51 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The company has a market capitalization of $206.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $307.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $285.99.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.99%.

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.