Defined Financial Planning LLC Makes New Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Defined Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 798 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new stake in American Express during the first quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.1%

AXP opened at $299.25 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $276.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $289.22. The company has a market cap of $209.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Redburn Atlantic upgraded American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America raised American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. BTIG Research decreased their price target on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.05.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.