UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Sells 1,850 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp reduced its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 47,624 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,850 shares during the period. American Express comprises about 0.9% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in American Express were worth $14,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Express by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,142 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $996,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Boston Financial Mangement LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 4,007 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Auxier Asset Management boosted 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 valued at $1,934,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Abel Hall LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AXP. Compass Point cut their price target on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price target on American Express from $326.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.57.

American Express Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $279.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $196.17 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1 year low of $214.51 and a 1 year high of $326.28. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $289.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

Insider Activity at American Express

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

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.