Winebrenner Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Winebrenner Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 6.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,037 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 238 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for about 1.0% of Winebrenner Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Winebrenner Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,924,000 after buying an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in American Express by 12.5% during the first quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,318 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in American Express by 1.0% during the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,438 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,194,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smith Salley Wealth Management lifted its holdings in American Express by 1.4% during the first quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 13,350 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,592,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, July 14th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $332.65.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $361.41 on Wednesday. American Express Company has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $362.84. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $332.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $308.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $248.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.29.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.01%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total transaction of $37,034,041.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 92,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,614,306.60. This represents a 54.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Denise Pickett sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.73, for a total transaction of $1,753,650.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 7,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,709,739.98. The trade was a 39.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 222,011 shares of company stock valued at $70,725,044 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.