L & S Advisors Inc Has $7.69 Million Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

L & S Advisors Inc grew its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 13.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,337 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,446 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in American Express were worth $7,685,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in American Express during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. raised its position in American Express by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in American Express during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management bought a new position in American Express during the 2nd quarter worth $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America raised their target price on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Barclays raised their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.09.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Anre D. Williams sold 77,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.26, for a total value of $21,049,740.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 111,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,176,150.56. This represents a 41.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 13,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.98, for a total transaction of $3,552,818.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 109,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,724,067.18. This trade represents a 10.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.6 %

AXP stock opened at $289.50 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $274.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $252.35. American Express has a 12 month low of $162.85 and a 12 month high of $296.83. The company has a market cap of $203.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. American Express’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.4 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.