Prana Capital Management LP Acquires New Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Prana Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 59,552 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $17,674,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of AXP stock opened at $300.03 on Thursday. American Express has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $264.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $287.63. The company has a market capitalization of $210.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.42, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.33 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a boost 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 1.09%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. American Express's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of American Express from $340.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Compass Point reduced their price objective on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $295.05.

About American Express

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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