Webster Bank N. A. Acquires 259 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Webster Bank N. A. increased its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,299 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 10.7% in the first quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in American Express by 6.3% in the first quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 1,625 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its holdings in American Express by 13.3% in the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 769 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC bought a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at about $242,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in American Express by 5.3% in the first quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 369,741 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $84,206,000 after acquiring an additional 18,510 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total value of $27,267,303.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 110,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,642,315.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total value of $27,267,303.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 110,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,642,315.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Skyler sold 14,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total value of $3,578,087.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,957,361.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 177,717 shares of company stock worth $41,680,999 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on American Express from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on American Express from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, BTIG Research initiated coverage on American Express in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $220.30.

American Express Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of American Express stock traded up $3.15 on Friday, reaching $231.55. The company had a trading volume of 3,901,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,820,091. The firm has a market cap of $166.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $234.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.79. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $244.41.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.40 EPS. American Express’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that American Express will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

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.