543 Shares in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Bought by MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc.

MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 543 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $146,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its stake in shares of American Express by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,633 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. GHE LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 17,021 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $5,052,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $79,000. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,776 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,308,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $311.60 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $304.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $291.20. The stock has a market cap of $216.84 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $329.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Bank of America upgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $311.05.

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.