Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC Increases Stake in American Express Company $AXP

Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 12.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,599 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $510,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 5.7% during the second quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 12,774 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,075,000 after buying an additional 691 shares during the last quarter. Covenant Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 475.4% during the 2nd quarter. Covenant Asset Management LLC now owns 14,806 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,723,000 after acquiring an additional 12,233 shares during the period. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH grew its position in American Express by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 29,491 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $9,407,000 after acquiring an additional 3,019 shares during the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in American Express by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $659,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, GC Wealth Management RIA LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,713,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $342.07 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $238.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s fifty day moving average is $317.46 and its 200 day moving average is $296.32. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $349.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.70 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AXP. BTIG Research set a $277.00 target price on shares of American Express and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $315.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total transaction of $15,475,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 10,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,391,191.50. This trade represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total value of $37,034,041.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at $30,614,306.60. This trade represents a 54.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.