783 Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP) Purchased by Baron Wealth Management LLC

Baron Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 783 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 26.2% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 39,494 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,992,000 after purchasing an additional 8,204 shares during the period. Mattern Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth about $241,000. Delap Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $255,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 22.8% during the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 13,099 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,983,000 after buying an additional 2,428 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $285.54 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $273.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $252.10. American Express has a 52-week low of $161.73 and a 52-week high of $296.83. The firm has a market cap of $201.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. BTIG Research lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

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.