Narus Financial Partners LLC Takes $213,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Narus Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 934 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 20.7% during the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of American Express by 35.5% during the 3rd quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,726 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of American Express by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 285,348 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $42,571,000 after acquiring an additional 23,017 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $477,000. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in American Express by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 13,862 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,068,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on American Express from $253.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. BTIG Research assumed coverage on American Express in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $220.30.

American Express Stock Up 0.9 %

AXP stock opened at $235.97 on Wednesday. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $244.41. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $234.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.73 billion, a PE ratio of 19.44, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The payment services company reported $3.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $15.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.79 billion. American Express had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13 EPS for the current year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total value of $829,500.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,602,896.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other American Express news, insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total value of $829,500.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,602,896.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 117,309 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.44, for a total transaction of $27,267,303.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 110,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,642,315.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 177,717 shares of company stock worth $41,680,999. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.