American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR cut its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,593 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 75 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% in the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 662,382 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in American Express by 8.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $590,940,000 after buying an additional 195,876 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in American Express by 22.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $485,525,000 after buying an additional 387,166 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter worth about $433,709,000. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its position in shares of American Express by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,270,814 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $343,437,000 after acquiring an additional 27,859 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Barclays boosted their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Compass Point assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $272.69 on Friday. American Express has a 52 week low of $148.33 and a 52 week high of $286.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $266.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $247.45. The company has a market cap of $192.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.41 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

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.