Principle Wealth Partners LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Principle Wealth Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,826 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 190 shares during the quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Express by 5.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $183,037,000 after acquiring an additional 35,295 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its stake in shares of American Express by 1.4% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 167,534 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $45,243,000 after acquiring an additional 2,259 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at $509,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of American Express by 6.4% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,458 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $25,088,000 after acquiring an additional 5,693 shares during the period. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 15.8% in the first quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,787 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,364,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total transaction of $7,671,326.85. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at $40,343,574.81. This represents a 15.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 61,721 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $297.47, for a total transaction of $18,360,145.87. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,677,527.47. The trade was a 87.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AXP. BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of American Express from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of American Express from $375.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $332.65.

American Express Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE AXP opened at $351.68 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. American Express Company has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $357.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $328.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $304.16. The stock has a market cap of $242.25 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.29.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $18.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.49 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. American Express has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.200-15.500 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.01%.

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.