Northstar Group Inc. Buys 532 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Northstar Group Inc. lifted its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 2.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 21,087 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the period. American Express makes up approximately 1.0% of Northstar Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Northstar Group Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $6,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,924,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in American Express by 15.7% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $5,601,000 after buying an additional 2,819 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC grew its position in American Express by 4.3% during the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 11,678 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,142,000 after buying an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position in American Express by 44.4% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 283 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in American Express by 1.3% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,138 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,342,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $18,360,145.87. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at $2,677,527.47. The trade was a 87.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer 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. Insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AXP. BTIG Research set a $277.00 target price on American Express and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on American Express from $348.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $327.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $319.95.

American Express Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE AXP opened at $328.76 on Thursday. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $349.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $319.19 and a 200-day moving average of $297.32. The firm has a market cap of $228.77 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.29.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The company had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.49 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

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.