Arvest Investments Inc. Takes Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Arvest Investments Inc. bought a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 2,555 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $687,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $1,785,867,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in American Express by 463.3% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 4,357,487 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,293,259,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,959 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 27,625.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $581,914,000 after acquiring an additional 2,155,045 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in American Express by 186.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,986,710 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $886,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943,463 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 346.2% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,021,873 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $600,072,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,747 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE AXP opened at $297.90 on Friday. 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 market capitalization of $208.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $277.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $289.17. American Express has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) 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. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.33 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BTIG Research cut their price objective on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of American Express from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. The trade was a 21.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.