Fortitude Family Office LLC Purchases 75 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 668 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the third quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $302.80 on Friday. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $296.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $268.66. American Express has a 12 month low of $177.81 and a 12 month high of $307.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. The trade was a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 41.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of American Express from $252.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. HSBC cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen increased their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $272.64.

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.