On March 3, 2023 at 13:18:11 ET an unusually large $1,762.50K block of Call contracts in American Express (AXP) was sold, with a strike price of $200.00 / share, expiring in 322 days (on January 19, 2024). Fintel tracks all large options trades, and the premium spent on this trade was 5.19 sigmas above the mean, placing it in the 100.00 percentile of all recent large trades made in AXP options.

This trade was first picked up on Fintel’s real time Options Flow tool, where all large block option trades are tracked.

Analyst Price Forecast Suggests 7.86% Upside

As of March 2, 2023, the average one-year price target for American Express is $189.13. The forecasts range from a low of $150.49 to a high of $231.00. The average price target represents an increase of 7.86% from its latest reported closing price of $175.34.

The projected annual revenue for American Express is $59,192MM, an increase of 16.80%. The projected annual non-GAAP EPS is $10.65.

What is the Fund Sentiment?

There are 3073 funds or institutions reporting positions in American Express. This is an increase of 64 owner(s) or 2.13% in the last quarter. Average portfolio weight of all funds dedicated to AXP is 0.47%, a decrease of 7.06%. Total shares owned by institutions decreased in the last three months by 0.81% to 695,254K shares. The put/call ratio of AXP is 0.87, indicating a bullish outlook.

What are large shareholders doing?

Berkshire Hathaway holds 151,611K shares representing 20.37% ownership of the company. No change in the last quarter.

Wellington Management Group Llp holds 21,818K shares representing 2.93% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 23,685K shares, representing a decrease of 8.56%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in AXP by 5.03% over the last quarter.

VTSMX – Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares holds 17,034K shares representing 2.29% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 16,771K shares, representing an increase of 1.55%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in AXP by 2.73% over the last quarter.

Jpmorgan Chase & holds 16,489K shares representing 2.22% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 16,087K shares, representing an increase of 2.43%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in AXP by 3.05% over the last quarter.

Fisher Asset Management holds 14,511K shares representing 1.95% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 15,039K shares, representing a decrease of 3.63%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in AXP by 4.70% over the last quarter.

American Express Declares $0.52 Dividend

On December 7, 2022 the company declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share ($2.08 annualized). Shareholders of record as of January 6, 2023 received the payment on February 10, 2023. Previously, the company paid $0.52 per share.

At the current share price of $175.34 / share, the stock’s dividend yield is 1.19%. Looking back five years and taking a sample every week, the average dividend yield has been 1.38%, the lowest has been 0.94%, and the highest has been 2.49%. The standard deviation of yields is 0.25 (n=237).

The current dividend yield is 0.78 standard deviations below the historical average.

Additionally, the company’s dividend payout ratio is 0.24. The payout ratio tells us how much of a company’s income is paid out in dividends. A payout ratio of one (1.0) means 100% of the company’s income is paid in a dividend. A payout ratio greater than one means the company is dipping into savings in order to maintain its dividend – not a healthy situation. Companies with few growth prospects are expected to pay out most of their income in dividends, which typically means a payout ratio between 0.5 and 1.0. Companies with good growth prospects are expected to retain some earnings in order to invest in those growth prospects, which translates to a payout ratio of zero to 0.5.

The company’s 3-Year dividend growth rate is 0.40%, demonstrating that it has increased its dividend over time.

American Express Background Information
(This description is provided by the company.)

American Express is a globally integrated payments company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich lives and build business success.

This article originally appeared on Fintel

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