American Express Company $AXP Shares Acquired by Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 405.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,591 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 5,288 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of American Express by 2.2% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,267,377 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $721,525,000 after buying an additional 49,593 shares during the last quarter. ZEGA Investments LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $1,080,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,598,743 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $531,038,000 after purchasing an additional 4,080 shares during the last quarter. Dempze Nancy E raised its stake in shares of American Express by 210.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dempze Nancy E now owns 3,459 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reliant Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC now owns 26,189 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,354,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AXP. Weiss Ratings raised American Express from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on American Express from $395.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Credit Suisse Group set a $328.00 price target on American Express in a report on Monday, January 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Compass Point reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $352.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Elizabeth Rutledge sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.21, for a total value of $18,010,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 85,577 shares in the company, valued at $30,825,691.17. This represents a 36.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Denise Pickett sold 5,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.73, for a total transaction of $1,753,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,726 shares in the company, valued at $2,709,739.98. This represents a 39.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 57,515 shares of company stock valued at $20,658,509 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock opened at $365.03 on Friday. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $387.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $251.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $368.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $341.19.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The payment services company reported ($11.85) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.56 by ($15.41). The firm had revenue of ($17,139.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.91 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 14.97%. On average, research analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. American Express’s payout ratio is 22.01%.

American Express Profile

American Express is a global financial services company primarily known for its payment card products, travel services and merchant network. Founded in 1850 as an express mail business, the company evolved through the 20th century into a payments and travel-focused organization. Its core activities include issuing consumer and commercial charge and credit cards, operating a global card acceptance and processing network, and providing travel-related services and customer loyalty programs.

American Express issues a range of products for individuals, small businesses and large corporations, including personal cards, business and corporate cards, and co‑brand partnerships with airlines, hotels and retailers.