LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Has $25.63 Million Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI lifted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 2,557 shares during the period. American Express makes up about 2.8% of LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in American Express were worth $25,626,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 86.7% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,910 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 887 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its stake in American Express by 3.4% in the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 28,822 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $6,674,000 after acquiring an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 602,832 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $139,586,000 after acquiring an additional 42,238 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its stake in shares of American Express by 44.8% during the 2nd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 1,216 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFG Advisors raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 4,580 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP traded down $7.28 on Friday, reaching $295.57. 1,201,280 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,976,045. The stock has a market cap of $208.21 billion, a PE ratio of 21.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 12 month low of $177.81 and a 12 month high of $307.82. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $296.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $268.66.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $272.64.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. Company insiders own 0.12% 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.