Strategic Blueprint LLC Has $871,000 Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,935 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $871,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the third quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the third quarter worth about $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. HSBC raised their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group raised their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. 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, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $294.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease 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 the business’s stock in a transaction 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 $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. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $318.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $224.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $304.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $276.54. American Express has a 1-year low of $199.88 and a 1-year high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.