Foster & Motley Inc. Purchases 35 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Foster & Motley Inc. increased its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,716 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Auxier Asset Management increased its position in American Express by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 3.6% during the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 12,017 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,567,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in American Express by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup raised their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial started coverage on American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

American Express Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $317.12 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $304.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $276.84. American Express has a 1-year low of $199.88 and a 1-year high of $326.27. The company has a market cap of $223.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.23. 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 (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 net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.