Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stake in American Express Company $AXP

Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 670.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,212 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 1,925 shares during the period. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AXP. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in American Express during the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the second quarter worth $39,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $375.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, December 8th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Compass Point reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $324.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $370.00 price target on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $334.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Denise Pickett sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,726 shares in the company, valued at $2,709,739.98. This trade represents a 39.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Douglas Tabish sold 2,515 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider owned 2,515 shares in the company, valued at $894,359.15. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 57,515 shares of company stock worth $20,658,509 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of AXP opened at $380.99 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $356.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $329.81. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $387.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The firm has a market cap of $262.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.14.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. American Express’s 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.