Calamos Wealth Management LLC Buys 264 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Calamos Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 53,286 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 264 shares during the quarter. American Express comprises 0.8% of Calamos Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Calamos Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $15,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $996,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Auxier Asset Management boosted its stake in American Express by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Auxier Asset Management now owns 7,133 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. grew its position in American Express by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 4,054 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,203,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Express by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 1,716 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $509,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on AXP. TD Cowen increased their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $316.43 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $304.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $277.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 1-year low of $203.42 and a 1-year high of $326.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Equities analysts predict that American Express will post 15.3 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

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.