Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Sells 791 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in American Express by 4.8% in Q2, selling 791 shares and ending with 15,837 shares valued at approximately $5 million.
• Insider sales are notable, with Laureen Seeger selling over 61,000 shares for more than $18 million, resulting in an 87.27% decrease in her ownership.
• American Express reported $4.14 EPS for its latest quarter, exceeding estimates, and has set a FY 2025 EPS guidance of 15.200-15.500.

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC cut its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,837 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 791 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $5,052,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AXP. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in American Express in the second quarter worth $26,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the second quarter valued at $37,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,677,527.47. This represents a 87.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of AXP stock opened at $354.71 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $329.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $304.99. The company has a market cap of $244.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.81, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.69. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $357.73.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.98 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $18.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.03 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 14.97%.The firm's revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.49 EPS. American Express has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.200-15.500 EPS. As a group, equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $343.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of American Express from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial lifted their target price on American Express from $375.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. HSBC set a $295.00 price objective on American Express and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded American Express from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $332.65.

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.

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