American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 27.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,997 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,875 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 156.2% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 52,957 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,262,000 after buying an additional 32,287 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in American Express by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,301 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in American Express by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 27,929 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $6,467,000 after acquiring an additional 3,273 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 26,607 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $6,161,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 217.0% during the second quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,804 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $881,000 after purchasing an additional 2,604 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available at this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 over the last ninety days. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE AXP opened at $312.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a 1-year low of $177.81 and a 1-year high of $315.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $299.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $271.73. The company has a market capitalization of $220.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $278.09.

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.