Artemis Investment Management LLP Buys 6,450 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 29.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 28,155 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 6,450 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in American Express were worth $8,356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AXP shares. Barclays increased their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com raised American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. Compass Point boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $278.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $312.75 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $299.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $271.98. The stock has a market cap of $220.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 1-year low of $177.81 and a 1-year high of $315.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

American Express 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.