Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Increases Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 19.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,059 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $285,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 3.5%

NYSE:AXP opened at $287.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $201.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $278.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $288.94.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.33 EPS. Analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AXP. BTIG Research decreased their price objective on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.05.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares in the company, valued at $2,590,251. The trade was a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express 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.