Aspetuck Financial Management LLC Makes New Investment in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Aspetuck Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,085 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new stake in American Express during the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $296.05.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded up $6.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $317.48. 4,605,056 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,831,690. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $222.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $288.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $288.96. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

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.