Atria Investments Inc Grows Position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 6.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,333 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 3,248 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc's holdings in American Express were worth $14,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new position in American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $311.05.

American Express Trading Up 1.1%

AXP stock traded up $3.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $311.60. 2,149,317 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,726,029. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 1.61. American Express Company has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $329.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.84 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $304.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $291.36.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend 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.