Candriam S.C.A. Sells 5,513 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Candriam S.C.A. cut its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 315,729 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 5,513 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in American Express were worth $100,716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at $509,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 6.6% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 60,634 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $16,314,000 after acquiring an additional 3,776 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in American Express by 2.2% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,267,377 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $721,525,000 after acquiring an additional 49,593 shares during the last quarter. Dempze Nancy E lifted its holdings in American Express by 210.2% in the second quarter. Dempze Nancy E now owns 3,459 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 2,344 shares during the period. Finally, Reliant Investment Management LLC boosted its position in American Express by 1.9% in the second quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC now owns 26,189 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,354,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. HSBC set a $295.00 target price on shares of American Express and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on American Express from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $332.65.

American Express Stock Up 0.6%

AXP opened at $372.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $256.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.27. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $342.22 and its 200 day moving average is $316.58. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $377.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by $0.16. American Express had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 14.97%.The business had revenue of $18.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.49 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter 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, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,614,306.60. This trade represents a 54.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Douglas Tabish sold 2,515 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.61, for a total transaction of $894,359.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $894,359.15. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 193,292 shares of company stock worth $65,363,878 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company 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.