Capital Advantage Inc. Makes New $880,000 Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Capital Advantage Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 2,965 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $880,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $832,000. Keybank National Association OH increased its position in American Express by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 349,937 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $103,858,000 after purchasing an additional 12,364 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI raised its stake in shares of American Express by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $25,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,557 shares in the last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 6,451 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,982 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $5,638,000 after buying an additional 2,826 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Baird R W upgraded American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on American Express from $340.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.05.

American Express Trading Up 0.4 %

AXP stock opened at $278.02 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $264.23 and a 200-day moving average of $286.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a market cap of $194.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.84, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.91%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Angelakis bought 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.