Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Valeo Financial Advisors LLC has increased its stake in American Express by 6.7% during the second quarter, owning a total of 16,886 shares valued at $5.39 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 84.33% of American Express's stock, with significant increases in holdings from firms such as Goldman Sachs and Vanguard.
• American Express announced a $0.82 per share quarterly dividend, representing an annualized yield of 1.0%, payable on November 10th to investors of record by October 10th.

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 6.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,886 shares of the payment services company's stock after buying an additional 1,054 shares during the quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $5,386,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in American Express by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $12,334,299,000 after acquiring an additional 605,900 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in American Express by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $4,849,777,000 after acquiring an additional 2,168,445 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,454,667,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,093,807 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,370,489,000 after acquiring an additional 78,538 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in American Express by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $1,278,711,000 after acquiring an additional 965,221 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of American Express from $348.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of American Express in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $321.90.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $331.93 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. American Express Company has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $349.19. The firm's fifty day moving average is $320.43 and its 200 day moving average is $299.06. The firm has a market cap of $230.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.29.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.49 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.02%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total transaction of $7,671,326.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 123,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,343,574.81. This represents a 15.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $18,360,145.87. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,677,527.47. The trade was a 87.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Company 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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