QRG Capital Management Inc. Buys 15,763 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 21.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 90,675 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 15,763 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $27,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of American Express by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,464,868 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $10,900,528,000 after purchasing an additional 369,967 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,023,482 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,338,238,000 after buying an additional 141,936 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in American Express by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,850,298 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,904,218,000 after buying an additional 558,533 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in American Express by 46.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,515,675 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,780,424,000 after buying an additional 2,393,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,464,215,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AXP. Freedom Capital upgraded American Express from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. DZ Bank raised American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Evercore set a $345.00 price target on American Express in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays dropped their price target on American Express from $323.00 to $322.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Loop Capital initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $389.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.95.

Key Stories Impacting American Express

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

• Positive Sentiment: American Express was highlighted in multiple articles as an attractive value and momentum stock, with Zacks and other outlets pointing to strong earnings/price momentum and undervaluation versus peers. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: News that American Express is expanding its premium-card ecosystem beyond airports and into festivals and sporting events reinforces its appeal to affluent customers who generate high spending and fee revenue. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Tripadvisor said it will sell TheFork to American Express for $700 million in cash, a deal that suggests AmEx is still actively investing to broaden its travel and membership offerings. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles focused on valuation comparisons and sector commentary rather than a direct company-specific catalyst, including comparisons of AXP versus Intercorp Financial Services and Mastercard. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: American Express is approaching its next earnings report, with Wall Street expecting mid-single-digit EPS growth; this keeps attention on fundamentals but does not yet provide a new earnings result. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: One analysis argued Mastercard may be the safer choice because it has more fee-based, risk-light economics, implicitly reminding investors that American Express carries more credit exposure and sensitivity to consumer health. Article Title

American Express Price Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $351.66 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $239.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $322.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $333.27. American Express Company has a one year low of $288.34 and a one year high of $387.49.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The payment services company reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.01 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $14.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.60 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 33.95% and a net margin of 15.13%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.64 EPS. American Express has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.300-17.900 EPS. Equities analysts expect that American Express Company will post 17.65 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.71%.

American Express 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.