125 Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP) Acquired by Nexus Investment Management ULC

Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 125 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:AXP opened at $295.50 on Friday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.02 billion, a PE ratio of 21.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $270.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.68.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 22.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AXP. Robert W. Baird upgraded American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on American Express from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Citigroup reduced 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.05.

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.