L & S Advisors Inc Boosts Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

L & S Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 28,337 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 3,446 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in American Express were worth $7,685,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its position in American Express by 2.7% in the third quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC grew its position in American Express by 2.5% in the third quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners grew its position in American Express by 10.5% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 422 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC grew its position in American Express by 0.4% in the second quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 10,384 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,404,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its position in American Express by 3.5% in the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 1,227 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

American Express Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of AXP opened at $289.50 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $274.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $252.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1-year low of $162.85 and a 1-year high of $296.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. American Express’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. Analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Express

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total value of $3,552,818.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 109,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.