Trueblood Wealth Management LLC Purchases 117 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Trueblood Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 3.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 117 shares during the quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AXP. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on American Express from $311.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $327.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $321.90.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total value of $37,034,041.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 92,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,614,306.60. The trade was a 54.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Trading Up 0.5%

American Express stock opened at $331.93 on Tuesday. American Express Company has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $349.19. The stock has a market cap of $230.98 billion, a PE ratio of 23.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $320.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $299.06.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.02%.

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.