Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Buys 2,125 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 19.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,081 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,125 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,882,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Auxier Asset Management increased its stake in American Express by 0.5% during the third quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 3.6% during the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its stake in shares of American Express by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in American Express by 2.7% in the third quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock opened at $320.87 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $302.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $274.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $186.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. Analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $281.00.

About American Express

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.