L & S Advisors Inc Purchases 11,424 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

L & S Advisors Inc raised its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 106.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,112 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,424 shares during the quarter. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in American Express were worth $7,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $509,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in American Express by 6.6% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 60,634 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $16,314,000 after acquiring an additional 3,776 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in American Express by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,267,377 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $721,525,000 after purchasing an additional 49,593 shares in the last quarter. Dempze Nancy E boosted its holdings in American Express by 210.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dempze Nancy E now owns 3,459 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344 shares during the period. Finally, Reliant Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC now owns 26,189 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,354,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $364.26 on Friday. American Express Company has a 1 year low of $220.43 and a 1 year high of $377.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market cap of $250.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $342.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $316.91.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $17.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.03 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 14.97%.American Express’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.49 EPS. American Express has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.200-15.500 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 22.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Elizabeth Rutledge sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.21, for a total value of $18,010,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 85,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,825,691.17. This represents a 36.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total value of $37,034,041.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,614,306.60. This represents a 54.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 193,292 shares of company stock valued at $65,363,878 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AXP shares. Barclays boosted their price target on American Express from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. BTIG Research increased their target price on American Express from $277.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on American Express from $371.00 to $394.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $332.65.

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.