Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $8.57 Million Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,600 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in American Express were worth $8,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smith & Howard Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the third quarter valued at about $233,000. Burford Brothers Inc. increased its stake in American Express by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. now owns 3,676 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $997,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $303,000. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,034 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $823,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 143,167 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $38,743,000 after buying an additional 13,428 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.09.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $267.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $192.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.01, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a one year low of $141.02 and a one year high of $286.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $263.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $245.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

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.