American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by Lavaca Capital LLC

Lavaca Capital LLC boosted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,471 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. American Express accounts for 0.7% of Lavaca Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Lavaca Capital LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Sachetta LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.70.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total transaction of $729,842.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 258 shares in the company, valued at $59,948.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Quinn Jessica Lieberman sold 3,141 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.36, for a total value of $729,842.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 258 shares in the company, valued at $59,948.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Anna Marrs sold 3,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.93, for a total transaction of $829,500.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,602,896.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 138,844 shares of company stock valued at $32,404,735. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Up 0.8 %

AXP traded up $2.03 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $247.92. 2,058,083 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,009,715. The company has a market cap of $176.25 billion, a PE ratio of 20.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $236.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $224.64. 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 has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $253.73.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.60 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This is a positive change from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

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.