GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. Acquires 7,838 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its stake in American Express by 4.0% in the first quarter, now holding a total of 203,130 shares valued at approximately $54.65 million.
• A number of analysts have raised their price targets for American Express stock, with Truist Financial setting a new target at $340.00 and maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Recent insider sales include a significant transaction from Glenda G. Mcneal, who sold 50,000 shares for a total of $15.47 million, indicating a notable reduction in insider ownership.

GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. raised its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 203,130 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,838 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for about 6.4% of GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.'s holdings in American Express were worth $54,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew 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 valued at $1,924,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,633 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $781,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. GHE LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 17,021 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $5,052,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,019 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,786,000 after purchasing an additional 879 shares during the period. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 98.1% during the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 25,046 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $7,434,000 after purchasing an additional 12,405 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $311.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $18,360,145.87. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,677,527.47. The trade was a 87.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 134,219 shares of company stock worth $40,555,901 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE AXP traded down $3.1570 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $316.0030. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,305,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,913,293. 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 stock has a market cap of $219.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.28. American Express Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $329.14. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $308.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $289.68.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The business had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. The business's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's payout ratio is presently 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.