Calamos Wealth Management LLC Purchases 566 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,852 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 566 shares during the period. American Express makes up approximately 0.7% of Calamos Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Calamos Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $14,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 202,571 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $54,502,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. raised its stake in American Express by 36.5% in the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 5,759 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,549,000 after buying an additional 1,541 shares during the last quarter. Davidson Trust Co. boosted its holdings in American Express by 18.8% in the first quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 1,959 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 9.7% in the first quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 891 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TKG Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 6.7% during the first quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 19,683 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $5,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on AXP shares. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. BTIG Research lowered their target price on American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Bank of America raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $327.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.25.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $328.36 on Friday. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $329.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.93, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $294.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $289.65.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a return on equity of 32.48% and a net margin of 15.31%. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.91%.

Insider Activity

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

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.