Elgethun Capital Management Decreases Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Elgethun Capital Management lowered its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 1.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,113 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 171 shares during the period. American Express comprises 1.1% of Elgethun Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Elgethun Capital Management’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in American Express in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total value of $37,034,041.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,614,306.60. The trade was a 54.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total transaction of $7,671,326.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,343,574.81. This represents a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 193,292 shares of company stock worth $65,363,878 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $364.26 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $347.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $322.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $250.92 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. American Express Company has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $377.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by $0.16. American Express had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 14.97%.The company had revenue of $17.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.49 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. American Express has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.200-15.500 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AXP. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. HSBC set a $295.00 target price on shares of American Express and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $311.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on American Express from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $332.65.

American Express Profile

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.