Trajan Wealth LLC Boosts Stock Position in American Express Company $AXP

Trajan Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 30.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,901 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,881 shares during the period. Trajan Wealth LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $8,271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ZEGA Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter worth $1,080,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 4,080 shares in the last quarter. Elite Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,763,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its position in American Express by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 82,883 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $26,438,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in American Express by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,329,851 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $778,380,000 after acquiring an additional 62,474 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, December 8th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Credit Suisse Group set a $328.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on American Express from $420.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised American Express from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $352.73.

American Express Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of AXP stock opened at $345.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The company has a market cap of $237.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.48, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.14. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $387.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $364.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $348.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The payment services company reported $3.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.54 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of ($17,139.00) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.91 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 33.49% and a net margin of 15.00%.American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.04 earnings per share. American Express has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.300-17.900 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were given 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 was Friday, January 2nd. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 21.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Denise Pickett sold 23,385 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.91, for a total transaction of $8,346,340.35. Following the transaction, the insider owned 7,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,767,480.14. The trade was a 75.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.58, for a total transaction of $5,348,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 8,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,189,608.10. The trade was a 62.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 73,944 shares of company stock valued at $26,114,366. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

About American Express

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.