Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Increases Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,212 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 53 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $9,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 5,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $982,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 4,894 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $917,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,786 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,646,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 23,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,349,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC now owns 4,181 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $214.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.52.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total value of $2,342,945.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,891,480.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other American Express news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 84,420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $17,979,771.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,248,905.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 11,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.41, for a total transaction of $2,342,945.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,874 shares in the company, valued at $2,891,480.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 172,047 shares of company stock worth $36,528,388 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP traded down $1.67 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $237.45. 1,284,343 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,171,987. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.80 billion, a PE ratio of 19.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $221.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.53. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $240.55.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 12.98 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.17%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.06%.

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.