Investment Advisory Group LLC Makes New $302,000 Investment in American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Investment Advisory Group LLC made a new investment in American Express, purchasing 948 shares valued at approximately $302,000 during the second quarter.
• Insiders at American Express have significantly reduced their ownership, with major sales recorded, including Glenda G. Mcneal selling 50,000 shares for over $15 million.
• Analysts have varying opinions on American Express, with nine rating it as a Buy and a consensus price target set at $323.60, despite DZ Bank recently downgrading it to a "sell" rating.

Investment Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 948 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the firm'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 sale, the insider owned 9,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,677,527.47. The trade was a 87.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $297.00 to $336.00 and gave the stock a "cautious" rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $323.60.

American Express Stock Down 2.5%

AXP stock opened at $316.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $322.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $300.17. American Express Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $349.19. The company has a market cap of $220.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.29.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.49 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid 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 23.02%.

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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