Avior Wealth Management LLC Has $4.09 Million Stake in American Express Company $AXP

Avior Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 7.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 12,834 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 990 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AXP. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 24.4% in the fourth 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. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $523,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings in American Express by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,605 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 27,625.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $581,914,000 after acquiring an additional 2,155,045 shares during the period. Finally, Doliver Advisors LP grew its holdings in American Express by 18.4% during the 1st quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 4,301 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,157,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $342.07 on Friday. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $349.19. The stock has a market cap of $238.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $317.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $296.05.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.02%.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 20,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total transaction of $37,034,041.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,614,306.60. This represents a 54.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Truist Financial raised their target price on American Express from $348.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $315.20.

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.