American Express (NYSE:AXP) Position Lifted by Calamos Wealth Management LLC

Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,286 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. American Express accounts for about 0.8% of Calamos Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Calamos Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $15,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AXP. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Down 0.3 %

AXP stock opened at $316.43 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $304.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $277.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 12 month low of $203.42 and a 12 month high of $326.27. The company has a market capitalization of $222.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.3 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.99%.

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.