L & S Advisors Inc Sells 2,177 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

L & S Advisors Inc lessened its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,160 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 2,177 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in American Express were worth $7,764,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $301.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael J. Angelakis purchased 3,700 shares of American Express stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total transaction of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Express Trading Down 2.5 %

NYSE AXP opened at $265.16 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $295.02 and its 200 day moving average is $289.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. American Express has a twelve month low of $214.51 and a twelve month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.41%.

American Express 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.