Forsta AP Fonden Reduces Stake in American Express Company $AXP

Forsta AP Fonden lessened its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 161,200 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 2,500 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in American Express were worth $51,420,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AXP. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the second quarter worth $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the second quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Proffitt & Goodson Inc. acquired a new stake in American Express during the second quarter worth about $41,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, CMO Elizabeth Rutledge sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.21, for a total transaction of $18,010,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 85,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,825,691.17. This represents a 36.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Denise Pickett sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.73, for a total value of $1,753,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,709,739.98. This trade represents a 39.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 193,292 shares of company stock worth $65,363,878 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AXP. Weiss Ratings downgraded American Express from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $332.65.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $370.04 on Wednesday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $341.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $316.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $254.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.27. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $373.08.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.98 by $0.16. American Express had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 33.41%. The business had revenue of $18.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue 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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

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.