American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Lake Street Private Wealth LLC

Lake Street Private Wealth LLC reduced its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 72.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,821 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 4,732 shares during the period. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $494,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. increased its position in shares of American Express by 42.2% in the second quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Founders Capital Management acquired a new position in American Express during the second quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 162.1% during the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 228 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $244.58.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $271.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $263.16 and a 200 day moving average of $244.92. American Express has a 12 month low of $141.02 and a 12 month high of $286.36.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. American Express’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 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.