Values First Advisors Inc. Has $892,000 Position in American Express Company $AXP

Values First Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 53.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,796 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 970 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $892,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth $29,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth $37,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the second quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth $41,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. This trade represents a 82.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Down 2.1%

AXP stock opened at $323.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. American Express Company has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $349.19. The company has a 50-day moving average of $324.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $301.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.29.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released 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 company had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.49 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AXP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $327.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of American Express from $348.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $323.60.

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.