First Dallas Securities Inc. Trims Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

First Dallas Securities Inc. reduced its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 37.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,412 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 3,284 shares during the period. First Dallas Securities Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of American Express by 105.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,000 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 19,400 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in American Express by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 114,408 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $31,027,000 after acquiring an additional 6,122 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,074 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,918,000 after acquiring an additional 1,634 shares during the period. Herbst Group LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Herbst Group LLC now owns 14,041 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares during the period. Finally, Davis Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC now owns 8,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,170,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Three 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $316.43 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business has a 50 day moving average of $304.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $277.73. American Express has a 52 week low of $203.42 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The company has a market cap of $222.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.3 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.99%.

American Express 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.