SRN Advisors LLC Purchases 1,300 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

SRN Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 43.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,290 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for approximately 1.1% of SRN Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. SRN Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 26,102 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $7,747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471 shares in the last quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $207,000. Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Finally, Advisor OS LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 64.8% during the fourth quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 5,323 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,580,000 after buying an additional 2,094 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. 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 report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial assumed 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Up 0.9 %

American Express stock opened at $295.86 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $307.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $285.93. American Express has a 1-year low of $214.51 and a 1-year high of $326.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

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.