Cerity Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in American Express Company $AXP

Cerity Partners LLC decreased its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 186,335 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 3,411 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $61,893,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,924,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,232 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $601,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter worth $1,488,000. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth $312,000. Finally, Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 40.3% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 46,889 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $12,615,000 after buying an additional 13,468 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Douglas Tabish sold 2,515 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.61, for a total value of $894,359.15. Following the transaction, the insider owned 2,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $894,359.15. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Elizabeth Rutledge sold 50,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief marketing officer owned 85,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,825,691.17. This represents a 36.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 57,515 shares of company stock valued at $20,658,509 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of American Express from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $395.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $420.00 target price on shares of American Express in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on American Express from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on American Express from $355.00 to $367.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $342.40.

American Express Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $378.15 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $260.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $368.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $338.61. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $387.49.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The payment services company reported ($11.85) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.56 by ($15.41). American Express had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 14.97%.The business had revenue of ($17,139.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.91 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. American Express’s payout ratio is 22.01%.

American Express Profile

American Express is a global financial services company primarily known for its payment card products, travel services and merchant network. Founded in 1850 as an express mail business, the company evolved through the 20th century into a payments and travel-focused organization. Its core activities include issuing consumer and commercial charge and credit cards, operating a global card acceptance and processing network, and providing travel-related services and customer loyalty programs.

American Express issues a range of products for individuals, small businesses and large corporations, including personal cards, business and corporate cards, and co‑brand partnerships with airlines, hotels and retailers.