American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Palisade Asset Management LLC

Palisade Asset Management LLC raised its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,665 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners lifted its position in American Express by 22.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $485,525,000 after acquiring an additional 387,166 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,682,959 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $456,418,000 after purchasing an additional 7,676 shares in the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,629,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $441,915,000 after purchasing an additional 54,958 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc boosted its position in shares of American Express by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,270,814 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $343,437,000 after purchasing an additional 27,859 shares during the period. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its stake in American Express by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,220,422 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $282,589,000 after buying an additional 23,487 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $301.21 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $276.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $253.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $212.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1-year low of $163.32 and a 1-year high of $301.92.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America raised their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

Insider Activity

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% 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.