First Command Advisory Services Inc. Buys 102 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

First Command Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 2.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,593 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at about $1,454,667,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of American Express by 13.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,849,777,000 after acquiring an additional 2,168,445 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 25.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,278,711,000 after acquiring an additional 965,221 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,843,893 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $12,334,299,000 after acquiring an additional 605,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Provident Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at about $126,119,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total value of $5,011,520.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,653,764.83. This trade represents a 65.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 277,511 shares of company stock valued at $87,909,279. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of AXP stock opened at $357.29 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $330.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $306.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The company has a market capitalization of $246.12 billion, a PE ratio of 23.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.29. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $362.32.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. American Express has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.200-15.500 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AXP shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. DZ Bank upgraded American Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $340.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on American Express from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $327.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $332.65.

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.