Banco Santander S.A. Reduces Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

21 Nov 2024, 18:42 by Mitch Edgeman · The Markets Daily

Banco Santander S.A. cut its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP – Free Report) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,501 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 703 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in American Express were worth $19,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. L & S Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in American Express by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 28,337 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $7,685,000 after acquiring an additional 3,446 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 71.6% in the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 11,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,022,000 after purchasing an additional 4,646 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.7% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 41,652 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $11,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its stake in American Express by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 1,922 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $521,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, Cypress Capital Group lifted its holdings in American Express by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 2,247 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $609,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other 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 transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $288.17 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a market cap of $203.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $274.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $252.35. American Express has a 12-month low of $162.85 and a 12-month high of $296.83.

American Express (NYSE:AXP – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AXP. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. HSBC lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on American Express

About American Express

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