Meitav Investment House Ltd. Purchases 7,054 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Meitav Investment House Ltd. increased its stake in American Express by 30.5%, acquiring an additional 7,054 shares during the second quarter, bringing their total holdings to 30,175 shares valued at approximately $9.6 million.
• Multiple brokerages have raised their price target for American Express, with Deutsche Bank projecting a target of $375.00, while the average target price across analysts is currently $321.90.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, with the ex-dividend date set for October 10th, indicating a fiscal commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Meitav Investment House Ltd. lifted its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 30.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,175 shares of the payment services company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,054 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd.'s holdings in American Express were worth $9,618,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AXP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of American Express from $311.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of American Express from $348.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of American Express from $297.00 to $336.00 and gave the company a "cautious" rating in a research note on Monday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $321.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total value of $7,671,326.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,343,574.81. This trade represents a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $331.93 on Tuesday. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $349.19. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $320.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $299.06. The company has a market capitalization of $230.98 billion, a PE ratio of 23.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. American Express's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. 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.

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