SLT Holdings LLC Grows Position in American Express Company $AXP

SLT Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 31.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,008 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. SLT Holdings LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in American Express by 5.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $183,037,000 after acquiring an additional 35,295 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its holdings in American Express by 1.4% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 167,534 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $45,243,000 after acquiring an additional 2,259 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at about $509,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in American Express by 6.4% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,458 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $25,088,000 after acquiring an additional 5,693 shares during the period. Finally, Navis Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 368.7% in the first quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 2,791 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $327.00 target price (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. HSBC set a $295.00 price objective on American Express and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, July 14th. DZ Bank downgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on American Express from $348.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $323.60.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $316.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $349.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $322.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $300.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.29.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total transaction of $7,671,326.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at $40,343,574.81. This trade represents a 15.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.