Lyell Wealth Management LP Boosts Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Lyell Wealth Management LP boosted its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,305 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in American Express by 5.0% during the third quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,284 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $619,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its position in American Express by 17.8% during the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 6,083 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after acquiring an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in American Express by 17.0% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 55,053 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $14,930,000 after acquiring an additional 7,990 shares during the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. increased its position in American Express by 2.9% during the third quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 1,655 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $449,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the third quarter valued at about $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. Compass Point cut their price target on American Express from $325.00 to $309.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on American Express from $315.00 to $344.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research boosted their price target on American Express from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, HSBC boosted their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.38.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,308,795. The trade was a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,664 shares of company stock worth $9,613,503. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

American Express Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $312.52 on Wednesday. American Express has a 1 year low of $209.10 and a 1 year high of $326.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $307.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $283.46. The company has a market cap of $220.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.24.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. Research analysts predict that American Express will post 15.32 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. American Express’s payout ratio is 19.99%.

American Express Profile

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.