Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC Has $4.33 Million Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC decreased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,949 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 320 shares during the period. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $4,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 286 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Express by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,943 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 4,550 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 18.3% in the 1st quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,802 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $119,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of American Express stock opened at $269.96 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $263.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $244.92. American Express has a 1 year low of $141.02 and a 1 year high of $286.36. The company has a market capitalization of $194.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. 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 quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. Research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AXP. Compass Point began coverage on American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays upped 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. BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. 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.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.09.

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.