American Express Company $AXP Shares Bought by GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.

GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. raised its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 203,130 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 7,838 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up approximately 6.4% of GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.’s holdings in American Express were worth $54,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 64.4% in the first quarter. PGIM Custom Harvest LLC now owns 4,786 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,874 shares during the period. GDS Wealth Management raised its stake in American Express by 3.4% during the first quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 64,621 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $17,386,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $278,000. Credit Agricole S A grew its stake in shares of American Express by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Credit Agricole S A now owns 301,348 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $81,078,000 after buying an additional 12,726 shares during the period. Finally, Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 8,542 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,423,000 after buying an additional 1,097 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $311.05.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,219 shares of company stock valued at $40,555,901 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE AXP opened at $308.3250 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market cap of $214.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $307.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $290.14. American Express Company has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $329.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.American Express’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

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.