Leo Wealth LLC Reduces Holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Leo Wealth LLC lessened its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 22.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,559 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 1,301 shares during the quarter. Leo Wealth LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $1,226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Norges Bank acquired a new position in American Express during 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% during 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 valued at $1,293,259,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,959 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in American Express by 27,625.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $581,914,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155,045 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in American Express by 186.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $886,426,000 after purchasing 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% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $600,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,747 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 10,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,402 shares of the company's stock, 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 currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded up $1.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $311.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,920,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,844,894. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $302.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $290.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.25. 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 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AXP. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. One 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.68.

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.