UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC Takes $224,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 754 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AXP shares. Redburn Atlantic raised American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Baird R W upgraded shares of American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $295.05.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $267.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.57. American Express has a 12 month low of $220.43 and a 12 month high of $326.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $268.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $287.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.04 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.91%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $998,593. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of American Express 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

American Express Company 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.