Townsquare Capital LLC Has $8.48 Million Stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 17.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,525 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,795 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $8,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,633 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. GHE LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 17,021 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $5,052,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the period. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,280 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 41,828 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $12,415,000 after purchasing an additional 961 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total transaction of $5,011,520.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,653,764.83. This represents a 65.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,219 shares of company stock valued at $40,555,901 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AXP. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, July 14th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of American Express from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $327.00 price target (up previously from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $311.05.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $297.41 on Friday. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $329.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $306.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $290.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. American Express’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.02%.

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.