American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Shares Acquired by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 6.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 43,284 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,613 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $11,646,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.68.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider owned 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of American Express stock traded down $6.97 during trading on Friday, reaching $308.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,478,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,852,726. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express Company has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $329.14. The company has a market cap of $216.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $304.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $291.13.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

American Express Company 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.