Eastern Bank Sells 45,551 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Eastern Bank reduced its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 21.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 170,332 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 45,551 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in American Express were worth $54,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 19.3% in the second quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,899 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $606,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the period. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the second quarter valued at approximately $425,000. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 260.1% in the second quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 22,641 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $7,222,000 after buying an additional 16,354 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 4.4% in the second quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 3,358 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, JB Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 13.3% in the second quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 895 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on shares of American Express and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $348.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $323.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total value of $37,034,041.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at $30,614,306.60. This represents a 54.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $316.27 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $322.16 and a 200-day moving average of $300.00. The company has a market capitalization of $220.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.29. 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 Company has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $349.19.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.02%.

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.