Brucke Financial Inc. Purchases New Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Brucke Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,107 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $986,000. American Express comprises 0.9% of Brucke Financial Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $832,000. Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in American Express by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 349,937 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $103,858,000 after acquiring an additional 12,364 shares during the period. Edge Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 6,451 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,915,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,982 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $5,638,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 26,102 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $7,747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,471 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of AXP stock traded down $1.34 on Friday, hitting $294.04. 5,251,731 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,066,160. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $270.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $288.68. American Express has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $326.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. This is a positive change from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express's dividend payout ratio is 22.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Argus downgraded shares of American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $296.05.

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.