Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc Makes New $219,000 Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 737 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 76.6% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,757 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $521,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 54.0% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 25,266 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $7,499,000 after buying an additional 8,862 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its position in American Express by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 1,791 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $532,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth $1,068,000. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in American Express by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,207 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,623,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial began coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. 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 research note on Monday. BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $278.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $300.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52 week low of $177.81 and a 52 week high of $307.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $297.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $270.60.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

American Express Company 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.