Arista Wealth Management LLC Has $3.25 Million Stake in American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Arista Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 345.4% in Q2, owning 10,186 shares valued at approximately $3.25 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for American Express, with UBS increasing it from $330 to $340, while Evercore boosted it from $330 to $365, indicating a generally positive outlook.
• American Express announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, reflecting a 1.0% yield, with the ex-dividend date set for October 10th.

Arista Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 345.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,186 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,899 shares during the period. Arista Wealth Management LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $3,249,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,273 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in American Express by 3.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,039 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,163,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in American Express by 22.2% in the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,549 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $957,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in American Express by 1.4% in the first quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,154 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,118,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in American Express by 2.9% in the first quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 9,599 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $2,583,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded American Express from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $323.60.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $323.60 on Friday. American Express Company has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $349.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.29. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $324.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $301.57.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.49 earnings per share. American Express's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. American Express's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total value 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 trade represents a 54.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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.

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