American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Strata Wealth Advisors LLC

Strata Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,178 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 45 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up approximately 1.4% of Strata Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Strata Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 332.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, 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 transaction of $4,765,295.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,492.04. The trade was a 38.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. This trade represents a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on American Express from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three equities 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.38.

American Express Stock Up 0.5 %

AXP stock opened at $312.52 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $220.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $307.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $283.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a twelve month low of $209.10 and a twelve month high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

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.