American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Holdings Lessened by Freedom Investment Management Inc.

Freedom Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,794 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 97 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $1,785,867,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 36,719.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,011,790 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $300,289,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009,042 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $292,081,000. APG Asset Management N.V. increased its position in shares of American Express by 538.7% during the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 355,888 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $102,003,000 after purchasing an additional 300,168 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,517,668 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $450,429,000 after buying an additional 273,813 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.6 %

AXP opened at $251.48 on Friday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $217.18 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The company has a market capitalization of $176.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $274.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $287.71.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. This trade represents a ? increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AXP. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $343.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $294.90.

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.