American Express Company $AXP Shares Purchased by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,590 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth about $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth about $37,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on American Express from $375.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. HSBC set a $295.00 price objective on American Express and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on American Express from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $332.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,653,764.83. This represents a 65.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total value of $7,671,326.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 123,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,343,574.81. The trade was a 15.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 222,011 shares of company stock valued at $70,725,044. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $360.70 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $335.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $310.00. 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 $248.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.29. American Express Company has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-week high of $365.75.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.