Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC Buys Shares of 15,820 American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 15,820 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,290,000. American Express makes up 2.2% of Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $319,000. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its position in American Express by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 6,083 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares during the period. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,284 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI lifted its position in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI now owns 130,719 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $35,451,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares during the period. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.7% during the third quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 17,104 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $4,639,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on AXP. BTIG Research downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $242.33.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP traded down $8.99 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $276.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,884,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,930,270. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $286.36. 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 firm has a market cap of $199.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $261.27 and its 200-day moving average is $243.90.

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 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.