DAVENPORT & Co LLC Raises Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 7.6% in the second quarter, bringing its total to 69,786 shares valued at approximately $22.26 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including PFS Partners LLC and Hughes Financial Services LLC, have made new investments in American Express during the first quarter, contributing to institutional ownership now at 84.33%.
• American Express reported $4.08 earnings per share for the most recent quarter, exceeding estimates, with a quarterly revenue growth of 9.3% year-over-year.

DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 7.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,786 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 4,934 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $22,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the first quarter valued at $29,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, PFS Partners LLC grew its position in American Express by 104.0% in the first quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 153 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on shares of American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of American Express from $348.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $321.90.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total transaction of $7,671,326.85. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 123,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,343,574.81. This trade represents a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,677,527.47. This trade represents a 87.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $331.93 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market cap of $230.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $320.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $299.06. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $349.19.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.49 earnings per share. American Express's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.02%.

American Express Company 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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