Davis Selected Advisers Sells 6,240 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Davis Selected Advisers trimmed its stake in American Express by 2.5% in Q4, selling 6,240 shares and leaving 241,700 shares valued at about $89.42 million.
• Q1 results: American Express beat EPS ($4.28 vs. $4.01) but reported revenue of $14.22 billion below the article's cited estimate, and set FY2026 guidance of 17.30–17.90 EPS while analysts' consensus target is $357.47 with mixed ratings.
• Insider selling and dividend: Insiders sold 73,944 shares worth $26.1 million over the past 90 days (including large sales by Ravikumar Radhakrishnan and Howard Grosfield), and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.95 (annualized $3.80, ~1.2% yield).

Davis Selected Advisers lessened its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 241,700 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 6,240 shares during the quarter. Davis Selected Advisers' holdings in American Express were worth $89,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AXP. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,924,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,738 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $554,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter worth $428,000. Howland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $707,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 19.9% in the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,898 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $924,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AXP. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of American Express from $381.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of American Express from $375.00 to $325.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $395.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of American Express from $425.00 to $415.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $357.47.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.58, for a total transaction of $5,348,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 8,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,189,608.10. This represents a 62.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 8,134 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.73, for a total transaction of $2,820,301.82. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,270,704.09. This trade represents a 46.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 73,944 shares of company stock worth $26,114,366 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $319.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $218.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.95, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $311.71 and a 200 day moving average of $344.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.57. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $273.10 and a fifty-two week high of $387.49.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The payment services company reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.01 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $14.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.60 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.13% and a return on equity of 33.95%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.64 earnings per share. American Express has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.300-17.900 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that American Express Company will post 17.59 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Friday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 2nd. This is an increase from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.71%.

American Express Company Profile

American Express is a global financial services company primarily known for its payment card products, travel services and merchant network. Founded in 1850 as an express mail business, the company evolved through the 20th century into a payments and travel-focused organization. Its core activities include issuing consumer and commercial charge and credit cards, operating a global card acceptance and processing network, and providing travel-related services and customer loyalty programs.

American Express issues a range of products for individuals, small businesses and large corporations, including personal cards, business and corporate cards, and co‑brand partnerships with airlines, hotels and retailers.

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