Claro Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Claro Advisors LLC lifted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 8.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,209 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $599,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of American Express by 8.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,923,399,000 after acquiring an additional 662,382 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in American Express by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $485,525,000 after purchasing an additional 387,166 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in American Express by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,682,959 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $456,418,000 after purchasing an additional 7,676 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc boosted its stake in American Express by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,270,814 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $343,437,000 after purchasing an additional 27,859 shares during the period. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,220,422 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $282,589,000 after buying an additional 23,487 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $286.87 on Monday. American Express has a 52-week low of $157.97 and a 52-week high of $296.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $272.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $251.34. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were 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 approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays raised their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

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.