We recently published a list of Should You Buy the Dip and Follow Insiders into These 10 Stocks?. In this article, we are going to take a look at where American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) stands against other stocks insiders were piling into recently.
After a turbulent week, stocks began recovering on Monday, with all three major indexes posting gains. The broader market index rose 0.64%, blue-chip stocks gained 0.85%, and the NASDAQ Composite, still in correction territory, closed 0.31% higher.
Early Tuesday, stocks began to decline again as investors focused on the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting starting today. The key announcement for traders will come Wednesday when the Fed announces its interest rate decision, followed by a press conference with Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Since September, the Fed has cut interest rates three times and still, the broader market entered a correction.
Despite uncertainty from President Trump’s shifting tariff policies and geopolitical strategies, some analysts remain optimistic about AI’s future.
“We retain our view that there is more to go in stocks, and we keep our conviction in the long-term opportunities in stocks linked to both the artificial intelligence and power and resources transformational innovations,” UBS chief investment office said in a note Monday, according to CNBC.
Amid turbulence and uncertainty on Wall Street, looking at recent insider trades can provide valuable insights, as executives often have a deeper understanding of their companies. For example, when a CEO or CFO buys company stock, it may indicate strong confidence in the business’s future.
However, insider selling doesn’t always signal a lack of confidence. It could be due to personal financial needs or a desire to diversify investments. These sales are often made through pre-arranged plans, like 10b5-1 plans, to avoid any appearance of improper timing.
While insider activity can be informative, it’s important to consider it alongside the company’s financial health, market trends, and industry developments.
Our Methodology
We used Insider Monkey’s insider trading stock screener to analyze recent trading activities in several popular stocks. For each stock, we noted the number of insiders who recently acquired shares and the company’s market capitalization.
Our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds, focusing on insider trading and stock picks from hedge fund investor newsletters and conferences. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
A close-up view of a payment terminal, capturing the sophistication of a payment network.
American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)
Number of Insiders Buying: 1
Market Capitalization: $185.36 billion
American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) operates as an integrated payments company in the United States and globally. The New York-based company operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, International Services, Commercial Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services. Its products and services include banking, credit cards, charge cards, and other payment and financing products, network, travel, and lifestyle services.
Recently, an investment management firm, Bretton Capital Management, discussed the stock saying that American Express (NYSE:AXP) was its best-performing stock, returning 60% last year. “Its premium credit cards are more popular than ever, and its moderately affluent customer base continues to spend. American Express did especially well signing up younger cardholders, a great sign that its growth can be sustained for years to come. The combination of healthy revenue growth and tight expense control led to an earnings-per-share growth of 25%.”
On March 7, one insider bought a total of $998,593 worth of American Express shares at a price of $269.89 per share. Currently, the stock is trading at $264.38, having lost 10.92% since the beginning of the year. However, over the past 12 months, American Express returned 19.65% to its investors.
The acquisition followed the company’s March 6 announcement that it had entered into an agreement to acquire Center, a software company modernizing expense management.
Twenty-three Wall Street analysts have given a “Moderate Buy” rating to American Express shares, with an average price target of $320.35, according to TipRanks. The average price target indicates a 21.17% upside from the latest price.
American Express (NYSE:AXP) is also among the 10 best stocks to invest in for the next 10 years.
Overall, AXP ranks 10th on our list of stocks insiders were piling into recently. While we acknowledge the potential of AXP, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AXP but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
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