Lewis Asset Management LLC Lowers Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Lewis Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,017 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 232 shares during the quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $895,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its stake in American Express by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 6,119 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,816,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC raised its stake in American Express by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC now owns 11,659 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,460,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC raised its stake in American Express by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 24,642 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $7,314,000 after acquiring an additional 3,103 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its stake in American Express by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 3,026 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $898,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. raised its stake in American Express by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 1,716 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, CFO Caillec Christophe Le sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,952,286.84. This represents a 48.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays boosted their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on American Express from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $294.95.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $315.14 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $303.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $276.27. The stock has a market cap of $222.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. American Express has a one year low of $199.88 and a one year high of $326.27.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The payment services company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.04. American Express had a return on equity of 32.46% and a net margin of 15.32%. On average, analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

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.