Baird Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in American Express Company $AXP

Baird Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 3.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 173,927 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 6,042 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $55,479,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,425,262 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $14,808,730,000 after purchasing an additional 581,369 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of American Express by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,849,777,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168,445 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,487,316 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,282,984,000 after buying an additional 1,349,746 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,897,335,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at $1,454,667,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Denise Pickett sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 7,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,709,739.98. The trade was a 39.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Douglas Tabish sold 2,515 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.61, for a total transaction of $894,359.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,515 shares in the company, valued at $894,359.15. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 57,515 shares of company stock worth $20,658,509 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on American Express from $343.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of American Express from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of American Express from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $332.65.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $370.93 on Friday. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $377.23. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $350.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $324.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $255.51 billion, a PE ratio of 24.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.61.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. American Express’s payout ratio is 22.01%.

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.