Ibex Wealth Advisors Purchases 4,173 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Ibex Wealth Advisors boosted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 33.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,837 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 4,173 shares during the period. Ibex Wealth Advisors’ holdings in American Express were worth $4,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,752,084 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,484,312,000 after purchasing an additional 268,572 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,761,336 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,600,277,000 after purchasing an additional 95,927 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in American Express by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,825,135 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,025,632,000 after purchasing an additional 955,811 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,785,867,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,015,269 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,488,482,000 after purchasing an additional 408,283 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Stock Down 0.3%

AXP opened at $301.61 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $211.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $326.28. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $274.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.07.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AXP. Bank of America raised American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $325.00 to $274.00 in a report on Friday, April 11th. Baird R W raised American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on American Express from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Argus downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were 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 directly owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.