137,876 Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP) Bought by Strategic Financial Concepts LLC

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 137,876 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,920,000. American Express accounts for about 1.3% of Strategic Financial Concepts LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of American Express by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 124,938 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $40,261,000 after purchasing an additional 3,830 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in American Express by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 15,524 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,753 shares in the last quarter. Centerpoint Advisory Group bought a new stake in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $375,000. Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,393 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,304,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of American Express by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 22,946 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $6,810,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 1.3 %

AXP stock opened at $311.37 on Friday. American Express has a 1-year low of $209.10 and a 1-year high of $326.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $219.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $306.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $282.04.

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, beating 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%. Research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 15.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 19.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. Compass Point lowered their price target on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,664 shares of company stock valued at $9,613,503 over the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express 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.