Bill Few Associates Inc. Decreases Position in American Express Company $AXP

Bill Few Associates Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,374 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 279 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up approximately 1.5% of Bill Few Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Bill Few Associates Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $316.27 on Monday. American Express Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $349.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $322.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $300.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.29.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The firm 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 company posted $3.49 earnings per share. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AXP. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on American Express from $348.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded American Express from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on American Express from $343.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $323.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider owned 10,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. This represents a 21.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.