Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC Purchases New Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,193 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $371,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in American Express by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,752,084 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $3,484,312,000 after purchasing an additional 268,572 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in American Express by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,761,336 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,600,277,000 after purchasing an additional 95,927 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in American Express by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,825,135 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $2,025,632,000 after purchasing an additional 955,811 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $1,785,867,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in American Express by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,015,269 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,488,482,000 after purchasing an additional 408,283 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded down $0.45 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $293.31. The stock had a trading volume of 1,673,917 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,846,057. The firm's fifty day moving average is $269.80 and its 200 day moving average is $288.63. 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 has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $326.28. The stock has a market cap of $205.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were paid a $0.82 dividend. This is a positive change from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. American Express's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business'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 transaction, the insider now owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business'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 transaction, the insider now owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Argus cut shares of American Express from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $296.05.

American Express 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.