American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) Shares Acquired by IFP Advisors Inc

IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 122.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,760 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 5,924 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc's holdings in American Express were worth $2,895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Norges Bank bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in American Express by 463.3% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,293,259,000 after buying an additional 3,583,959 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in American Express by 27,625.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $581,914,000 after buying an additional 2,155,045 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in American Express by 186.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $886,426,000 after buying an additional 1,943,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in American Express by 346.2% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $600,072,000 after buying an additional 1,568,747 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the firm'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 value of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,590,251. This trade represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the firm's 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 directly owned 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Bank of America upgraded American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $327.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $311.05.

American Express Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $309.03. 1,097,435 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,998,382. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market cap of $215.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.25. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $304.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $291.25. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $329.14.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. American Express's dividend payout ratio 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.