American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Acquired by OneAscent Financial Services LLC

OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 75.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,577 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares during the quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $765,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial started coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Argus downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $275.64 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 1 year low of $214.51 and a 1 year high of $326.28. The company has a market cap of $193.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.67, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $292.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $289.76.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. On average, analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.41%.

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.