Lake Street Private Wealth LLC Has $519,000 Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Lake Street Private Wealth LLC lessened its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,749 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 72 shares during the period. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,590 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,065,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $566,000. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 17,997 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $5,341,000 after acquiring an additional 3,875 shares in the last quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 2,178 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $646,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Saxon Interests Inc. boosted its position in American Express by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 5,536 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,643,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $312.75 on Friday. American Express has a 12 month low of $177.81 and a 12 month high of $315.40. The company has a market capitalization of $220.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $299.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $271.73. 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 earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Express will post 13.48 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. HSBC cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $278.09.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express 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 transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,691 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,998 shares of company stock valued at $26,423,439 over the last quarter. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.