Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC lowered its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,269 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 430.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,765 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 3,867 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 9.8% in the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI boosted its position in American Express by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 86,344 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $25,626,000 after buying an additional 2,557 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of American Express by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,203,772 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $655,137,000 after buying an additional 247,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth about $298,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on AXP. Barclays raised their price target on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $288.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,952,286.84. The trade was a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $316.23 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market cap of $222.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $302.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $275.17. American Express has a 52 week low of $199.07 and a 52 week high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.60%.

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.