SouthState Corp Grows Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

SouthState Corp boosted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,287 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 433 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Down 0.5 %

AXP opened at $285.54 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. American Express has a 52 week low of $161.73 and a 52 week high of $296.83. The business’s 50 day moving average is $273.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $251.72. The firm has a market cap of $201.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.47 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

American Express 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.