Lazari Capital Management Inc. Sells 65 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Lazari Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,578 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 65 shares during the quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 119.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,993,000 after purchasing an additional 21,508 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in American Express by 102.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,842,000 after acquiring an additional 6,329 shares during the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,881,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its position in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 15.5% in the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,143,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $244.58.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock opened at $272.31 on Wednesday. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $286.36. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $262.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $244.73. The company has a market capitalization of $195.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.43, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

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.