Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 214,055 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Lazard Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,137,647 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 214,055 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $362,886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 11.6% in the second quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,362 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $3,305,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in American Express by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,732 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $9,484,000 after buying an additional 1,337 shares during the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 61.2% during the 2nd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 40,710 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $13,281,000 after acquiring an additional 15,448 shares in the last quarter. Curi Capital LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 163.0% during the 2nd quarter. Curi Capital LLC now owns 6,322 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,017,000 after acquiring an additional 3,918 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beck Mack & Oliver LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 403,450 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $128,693,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of American Express from $375.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $343.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price on American Express from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $332.65.

American Express Stock Down 0.7%

AXP opened at $382.14 on Friday. American Express Company has a twelve month low of $220.43 and a twelve month high of $387.49. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $354.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $328.10. The stock has a market cap of $263.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The payment services company reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by $0.16. American Express had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 33.41%. The company had revenue of $17.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.49 EPS. American Express’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. American Express has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.200-15.500 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Elizabeth Rutledge sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.21, for a total transaction of $18,010,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 85,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,825,691.17. This represents a 36.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Denise Pickett sold 5,000 shares of American Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.73, for a total value of $1,753,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 7,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,709,739.98. This trade represents a 39.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 57,515 shares of company stock valued at $20,658,509 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.