Smith Group Asset Management LLC Acquires 2,039 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 122,225 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 2,039 shares during the period. American Express makes up approximately 2.7% of Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $36,275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. now owns 10,983 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 45,422 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $13,481,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $326,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 3,625 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Genesee Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $597,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial started coverage on American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $317.24 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 52 week low of $199.07 and a 52 week high of $326.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $303.60 and its 200 day moving average is $276.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

American Express Company 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.