MBB Public Markets I LLC Purchases New Position in American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• MBB Public Markets I LLC has acquired a new stake in American Express, purchasing 1,161 shares valued at approximately $312,000 during the first quarter.
• American Express reported earnings of $4.08 per share for the quarter, surpassing estimates, with a revenue of $17.86 billion, reflecting a 9.3% year-over-year increase.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82, resulting in an annualized dividend of $3.28 and a dividend yield of 1.0%.

MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,161 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $312,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 772 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 792 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,661 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 5,236 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total value of $37,034,041.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 92,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,614,306.60. The trade was a 54.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, July 14th. DZ Bank cut American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $313.45.

American Express Stock Down 1.2%

American Express stock traded down $3.84 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $325.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,000,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,294,247. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $313.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $291.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. American Express Company has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $332.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 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 company had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.02%.

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.