Bouvel Investment Partners LLC Acquires 406 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Bouvel Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 29,323 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 406 shares during the quarter. American Express comprises approximately 3.1% of Bouvel Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $8,703,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.09.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $311.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.94, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $177.81 and a fifty-two week high of $314.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $298.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $270.90.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

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.