Empowered Funds LLC Has $3.88 Million Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,291 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,876,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,923,399,000 after acquiring an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in American Express by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $485,525,000 after purchasing an additional 387,166 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in American Express by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,682,959 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $456,418,000 after buying an additional 7,676 shares during the period. abrdn plc grew its position in shares of American Express by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,270,814 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $343,437,000 after buying an additional 27,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 2.0% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,220,422 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $282,589,000 after acquiring an additional 23,487 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE AXP opened at $285.54 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $273.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $251.72. American Express has a 12 month low of $161.73 and a 12 month high of $296.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that American Express will post 13.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays increased their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

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.