LRI Investments LLC Has $193,000 Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 13.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 671 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in American Express in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 332.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 108 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in American Express in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in American Express during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Compass Point boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $286.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays raised their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on American Express from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Four 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $259.45.

Insider Activity

In other 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 sale, the insider now owns 111,656 shares of the company’s stock, 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 available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $1,820,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This trade represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 96,998 shares of company stock worth $26,423,439. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $302.16 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $284.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $258.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market cap of $212.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 1 year low of $167.77 and a 1 year high of $307.82.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 32.46%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.39 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 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.