Columbia Bank Raises Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Columbia Bank boosted its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 12.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,619 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Columbia Bank’s holdings in American Express were worth $830,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,425,262 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $14,808,730,000 after acquiring an additional 581,369 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in American Express by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,849,777,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168,445 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,487,316 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,282,984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349,746 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth about $1,454,667,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,093,807 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,370,489,000 after buying an additional 78,538 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were 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 owned 92,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,614,306.60. This represents a 54.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Denise Pickett sold 5,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.73, for a total transaction of $1,753,650.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 7,726 shares in the company, valued at $2,709,739.98. The trade was a 39.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 193,292 shares of company stock worth $65,363,878. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $311.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on American Express from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on American Express from $343.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on American Express from $375.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $332.65.

American Express Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $355.47 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $244.86 billion, a PE ratio of 23.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $345.98 and a 200-day moving average of $321.22. American Express Company has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $377.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $17.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.03 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 14.97%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. American Express has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.200-15.500 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 22.01%.

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.