Sawyer & Company Inc Sells 1,155 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Sawyer & Company Inc decreased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,292 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,155 shares during the quarter. American Express comprises 1.2% of Sawyer & Company Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Sawyer & Company Inc’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Compass Point increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Truist Financial started coverage on American Express in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $278.09.

Insider Activity

In related news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $312.51 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $297.91 and its 200 day moving average is $270.60. The firm has a market cap of $220.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a 52-week low of $177.81 and a 52-week high of $313.96.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.60%.

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.