Kestra Investment Management LLC Has $1.74 Million Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Kestra Investment Management LLC grew its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 49.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,849 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,937 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,284 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its holdings in American Express by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 6,083 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,650,000 after buying an additional 920 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in American Express by 17.0% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 55,053 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $14,930,000 after purchasing an additional 7,990 shares during the period. Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Express by 3.5% during the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 1,227 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,943,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. HSBC boosted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $311.37 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $306.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $282.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.67. American Express has a 52-week low of $209.10 and a 52-week high of $326.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.