Fortitude Family Office LLC Has $161,000 Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Fortitude Family Office LLC lessened its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 18.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 593 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 133 shares during the quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $161,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AXP. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Founders Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the second quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total transaction of $21,049,740.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $271.47 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 52-week low of $141.73 and a 52-week high of $286.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $264.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $246.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Compass Point started coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. HSBC cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $253.09.

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.