Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Acquires New Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 137,876 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,920,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Leo Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 80.3% during the fourth quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 5,860 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,739,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609 shares in the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its stake in American Express by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 1,424 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in American Express by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 79,451 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $23,579,000 after purchasing an additional 11,090 shares in the last quarter. Adero Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 76.3% in the 4th quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 8,717 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,587,000 after purchasing an additional 3,773 shares during the period. Finally, Choreo LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 23,305 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $6,926,000 after purchasing an additional 5,270 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial started coverage on American Express in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total value of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. This trade represents a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Stock Down 1.1 %

American Express stock opened at $316.72 on Friday. American Express has a twelve month low of $207.61 and a twelve month high of $326.27. The stock has a market cap of $223.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $306.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $279.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.99%.

About American Express

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.