Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Acquires 7,822 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 8.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 95,443 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,822 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.'s holdings in American Express were worth $25,679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.7%

AXP stock opened at $298.50 on Monday. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.25. The business's fifty day moving average price is $283.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.59.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. American Express's payout ratio is 22.91%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% 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 corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on AXP. Citigroup dropped their price target on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of American Express from $244.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $296.05.

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.

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