Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Takes $3.97 Million Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 13,360 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,965,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $832,000. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in American Express by 430.6% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH increased its stake in American Express by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 349,937 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $103,858,000 after purchasing an additional 12,364 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $25,626,000 after buying an additional 2,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 6,451 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,915,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on AXP. StockNews.com downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $343.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Argus cut shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In related news, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $269.89 per share, with a total value of $998,593.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Raymond Joabar sold 15,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.94, for a total transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,866 shares in the company, valued at $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. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $251.46 on Friday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $216.12 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28. The company has a market capitalization of $176.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $279.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $288.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. On average, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This is a boost from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.41%.

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.