Petros Family Wealth LLC Grows Stock Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Petros Family Wealth LLC raised its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,865 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Petros Family Wealth LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $595,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, PFS Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 104.0% in the 1st quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 153 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of several research reports. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price target on shares of American Express and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. DZ Bank cut shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $327.00 target price (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $319.95.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total value of $5,011,520.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at $2,653,764.83. This represents a 65.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total transaction of $37,034,041.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at $30,614,306.60. The trade was a 54.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of American Express stock opened at $330.10 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $349.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.17, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $320.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $298.63.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

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

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.