Grove Bank & Trust Decreases Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Grove Bank & Trust lowered its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,493 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 249 shares during the quarter. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 430.6% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI raised its stake in American Express by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $25,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,557 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group lifted its position in American Express by 2,196.4% in the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in American Express by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $655,137,000 after acquiring an additional 247,864 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.4 %

AXP opened at $312.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $220.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 12 month low of $177.81 and a 12 month high of $315.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $299.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.73.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.48 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AXP. TD Cowen lifted their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $278.09.

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.