Global Retirement Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,794 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares during the quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. HSBC increased their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. BTIG Research increased their target price 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. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Down 0.9 %

AXP stock opened at $309.90 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a twelve month low of $209.10 and a twelve month high of $326.27. The company’s 50 day moving average is $307.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $283.65. The stock has a market cap of $217.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.12, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. Research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. American Express’s payout ratio 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.