LRI Investments LLC Sells 73 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

LRI Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 9.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 690 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 73 shares during the quarter. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. DZ Bank lowered shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. HSBC set a $295.00 target price on shares of American Express and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $323.60.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $316.27 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $322.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $300.36. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $349.19. The company has a market cap of $220.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.29.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The firm had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total value of $37,034,041.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at $30,614,306.60. This represents a 54.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total transaction of $1,709,235.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. The trade was a 21.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American Express Company 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.