Willis Investment Counsel Purchases 594 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Willis Investment Counsel increased its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,288 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 594 shares during the period. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in American Express were worth $17,317,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,454,667,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in American Express by 13.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,849,777,000 after buying an additional 2,168,445 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 11.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,487,316 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,282,984,000 after buying an additional 1,349,746 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,278,711,000 after acquiring an additional 965,221 shares during the period. Finally, Provident Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 136.6% during the 2nd quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 1,108,971 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $353,740,000 after acquiring an additional 640,214 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $343.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $236.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.27. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $377.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $344.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $319.57.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 22.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, insider Douglas Tabish sold 2,515 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.61, for a total value of $894,359.15. Following the transaction, the insider owned 2,515 shares in the company, valued at $894,359.15. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Denise Pickett sold 5,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.73, for a total transaction of $1,753,650.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 7,726 shares in the company, valued at $2,709,739.98. This trade represents a 39.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 193,292 shares of company stock valued at $65,363,878 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday. Compass Point reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $324.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of American Express from $311.00 to $362.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of American Express from $375.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $332.65.

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.