Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Purchases 153 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,764 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 2.0% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,039 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $7,030,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 19.8% in the second quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 879 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Investment Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the second quarter worth about $302,000. Hemington Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.9% in the second quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,725 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $550,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 9.3% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,710 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,373,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 2.5%

AXP stock opened at $316.27 on Monday. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $349.19. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $322.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $300.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $220.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.29.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.02%.

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total transaction of $37,034,041.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,614,306.60. This represents a 54.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,957 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,191.50. This trade represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded American Express from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, July 14th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on American Express and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on American Express from $348.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $323.60.

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.