American Express Company $AXP Holdings Lifted by Boston Family Office LLC

Key Points

• Boston Family Office LLC increased its stake in American Express by 15.8% in Q1, owning 13,200 shares valued at $3.55 million at the end of the reporting period.
• American Express reported $4.08 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.86, along with a revenue of $17.86 billion, up 9.3% year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, yielding 1.1% with a dividend payout ratio of 23.02%.

Boston Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 15.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,200 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the quarter. Boston Family Office LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $3,551,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $12,334,299,000 after acquiring an additional 605,900 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,825,135 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,025,632,000 after acquiring an additional 955,811 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $1,454,667,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,015,269 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,488,482,000 after acquiring an additional 408,283 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in American Express by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,278,711,000 after buying an additional 965,221 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 134,219 shares of company stock valued at $40,555,901. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded down $1.8750 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $306.5250. The company had a trading volume of 619,147 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,917,587. The stock has a market cap of $213.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $329.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $307.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.70 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The firm's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, DZ Bank cut American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $311.05.

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.