May Hill Capital LLC Increases Stake in American Express Company $AXP

May Hill Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 14.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,178 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. May Hill Capital LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the second quarter worth $26,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth $29,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth $37,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of American Express from $343.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of American Express from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Citigroup restated 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. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $375.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $332.65.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were 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 owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,614,306.60. This trade represents a 54.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Denise Pickett sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.73, for a total transaction of $1,753,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,726 shares in the company, valued at $2,709,739.98. This represents a 39.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 222,011 shares of company stock worth $70,725,044. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $361.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $331.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $307.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $362.84.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.98 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $18.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.03 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 33.41%. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.49 EPS. American Express has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.200-15.500 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.01%.

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.