Larson Financial Group LLC Buys 914 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 27.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,234 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 914 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $1,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider owned 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on shares of American Express and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America raised American Express from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.68.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP traded down $6.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $308.38. The stock had a trading volume of 5,503,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,027,198. The firm has a market cap of $216.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.25. American Express Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $329.14. The business has a fifty day moving average of $303.71 and a 200 day moving average of $291.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. 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 posted $3.49 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. American Express's dividend payout ratio is 22.91%.

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.