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Torray Investment Partners LLC Has $8.98 Million Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

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Key Points

  • Torray Investment Partners cut its American Express stake by 57.9% in Q4, selling 33,375 shares and retaining 24,275 shares valued at about $8.98 million (AXP is its 26th largest holding).
  • Q1 results beat expectations—EPS of $4.28 vs. $4.01 consensus—with higher net income and management reaffirming full‑year guidance, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.95 ($3.80 annual, a 1.2% yield).
  • Heavy insider selling occurred (73,944 shares worth ~$26.1M over three months, insiders now own 0.14%), while analysts' consensus remains a "Hold" with a $359.67 target, which may limit upside.
  • Five stocks to consider instead of American Express.

Torray Investment Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 57.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,275 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 33,375 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for approximately 1.3% of Torray Investment Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Torray Investment Partners LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $8,981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its stake in American Express by 153.3% during the 3rd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 76 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 210.7% during the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 8,134 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.73, for a total transaction of $2,820,301.82. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,270,704.09. The trade was a 46.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.58, for a total value of $5,348,700.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 8,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,189,608.10. This represents a 62.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 73,944 shares of company stock worth $26,114,366 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Credit Suisse Group set a $328.00 target price on American Express in a report on Monday, January 12th. Evercore set a $393.00 target price on American Express in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on American Express from $395.00 to $385.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on American Express from $400.00 to $360.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $395.00 target price on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $359.67.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on American Express

Key Stories Impacting American Express

Here are the key news stories impacting American Express this week:

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock traded down $7.31 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $325.59. 501,368 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,489,787. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $314.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $344.56. The firm has a market cap of $223.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.59. American Express Company has a 52 week low of $257.21 and a 52 week high of $387.49.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The payment services company reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.01 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $14.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.60 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 33.49% and a net margin of 15.00%.The business's revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that American Express Company will post 17.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.69%.

American Express Company Profile

(Free Report)

American Express is a global financial services company primarily known for its payment card products, travel services and merchant network. Founded in 1850 as an express mail business, the company evolved through the 20th century into a payments and travel-focused organization. Its core activities include issuing consumer and commercial charge and credit cards, operating a global card acceptance and processing network, and providing travel-related services and customer loyalty programs.

American Express issues a range of products for individuals, small businesses and large corporations, including personal cards, business and corporate cards, and co‑brand partnerships with airlines, hotels and retailers.

Further Reading

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for American Express (NYSE:AXP)

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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