Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 77 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lowered its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,498 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 77 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $445,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 36,719.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,011,790 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $300,289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,009,042 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in American Express by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,003,715 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,984,208,000 after acquiring an additional 866,110 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 35,213.7% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 317,117 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $86,002,000 after acquiring an additional 316,219 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of American Express by 73.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 707,381 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $191,842,000 after acquiring an additional 300,138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,517,668 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $450,429,000 after purchasing an additional 273,813 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AXP. HSBC upped their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock opened at $284.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. American Express has a 1 year low of $214.51 and a 1 year high of $326.27. The company has a market cap of $199.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $306.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $287.59.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. On average, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

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.