B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Takes Position in American Express Company $AXP

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 8,706 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,777,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,425,262 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $14,808,730,000 after purchasing an additional 581,369 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in American Express by 13.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,849,777,000 after buying an additional 2,168,445 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 11.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,487,316 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,282,984,000 after buying an additional 1,349,746 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,897,335,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,093,807 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,370,489,000 after acquiring an additional 78,538 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, December 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on American Express from $343.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. DZ Bank raised shares of American Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $332.65.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Denise Pickett sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.73, for a total transaction of $1,753,650.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 7,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,709,739.98. This trade represents a 39.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Elizabeth Rutledge sold 50,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.21, for a total transaction of $18,010,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 85,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,825,691.17. This trade represents a 36.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 57,515 shares of company stock valued at $20,658,509 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $382.14 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $263.23 billion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.61. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $354.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $328.59. American Express Company has a 52 week low of $220.43 and a 52 week high of $387.49.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by $0.16. American Express had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 33.41%. The company had revenue of $17.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.49 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. American Express has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.200-15.500 EPS. Research analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.01%.

American Express Company 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.