Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Lowers Stake in American Express Company $AXP

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. reduced its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 3.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 176,047 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 5,665 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up 2.4% of Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $58,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Longbow Finance SA boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 17.7% in the third quarter. Longbow Finance SA now owns 33,278 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $11,054,000 after buying an additional 5,005 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in American Express by 11.7% in the third quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. now owns 724 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of American Express by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 79,015 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $26,246,000 after acquiring an additional 2,562 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of American Express by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 276,091 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $91,706,000 after acquiring an additional 3,167 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting American Express

Here are the key news stories impacting American Express this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company set 2026 EPS guidance of $17.30–$17.90 (midpoint above Street), and management flagged 9–10% revenue growth — supports forward earnings expectations and helps justify valuation. Article: AXP anticipates a strong 2026 profit
• Positive Sentiment: Premium/affluent card spending remains a key growth driver; analysts and outlets emphasize resilient credit trends and durable premium travel/experience demand that underpin revenue and fee income. Article: AXP anticipates strong 2026 profit (Yahoo)
• Positive Sentiment: Expanded NBA partnership and marketing push aimed at experience-focused, higher‑spend cardholders — a strategic move to drive new premium activations and engagement. Article: American Express expands NBA ties
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s UBS conference presentation provided additional disclosure on strategy and metrics — useful for modelling but not an immediate catalyst by itself. Article: AXP presents at UBS conference
• Neutral Sentiment: Company boosted funding with new debt issuances — improves liquidity and funding flexibility but increases leverage/interest‑cost exposure; investor impact depends on terms. Article: American Express boosts funding with new debt issuances
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: a senior insider sold 15,000 shares (~$5.35M) on Feb 9 — large insider sales can raise short‑term concern about insider conviction even if not uncommon at large firms. Article: AXP insider sells $5.35M
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst/market pressure: a few firms trimmed targets or left neutral ratings and MarketWatch noted AXP underperformed peers — analyst downgrades/PT cuts and relative weakness can trigger short‑term selling. Article: AXP underperforms peers

Insider Activity

In other American Express news, insider Denise Pickett sold 23,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.91, for a total transaction of $8,346,340.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,754 shares in the company, valued at $2,767,480.14. This trade represents a 75.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 15,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.58, for a total value of $5,348,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,189,608.10. The trade was a 62.64% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 65,810 shares of company stock worth $23,294,065 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Evercore ISI set a $393.00 target price on American Express in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $395.00 price objective on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on American Express in a research note on Monday, December 8th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Credit Suisse Group set a $328.00 target price on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $395.00 price target on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $354.78.

American Express Stock Down 3.2%

NYSE AXP opened at $342.62 on Friday. 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 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market cap of $235.24 billion, a PE ratio of 22.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $367.70 and its 200 day moving average is $346.43.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The payment services company reported $3.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.54 by ($0.01). American Express had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 33.49%. The company had revenue of ($17,139.00) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.04 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. American Express has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.300-17.900 EPS. Research analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 21.31%.

American Express Company 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.