Contravisory Investment Management Inc. Cuts Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,259 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,434 shares during the period. American Express makes up about 1.9% of Contravisory Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Contravisory Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $10,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,191 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 869 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in American Express by 1.0% in the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 3,291 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,050,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC grew its position in American Express by 1.0% during the second quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 3,417 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,168,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Thrive Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in American Express by 1.6% during the third quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $679,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 9th. HSBC set a $295.00 target price on American Express and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of American Express from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, December 8th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $334.30.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $375.82 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $358.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $330.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $387.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $258.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.98 by $0.16. American Express had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 14.97%.The business had revenue of $17.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. American Express has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.200-15.500 EPS. 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Denise Pickett sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.73, for a total transaction of $1,753,650.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 7,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,709,739.98. This represents a 39.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Douglas Tabish sold 2,515 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.61, for a total value of $894,359.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $894,359.15. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 57,515 shares of company stock worth $20,658,509 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.20% 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.