Lantz Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 776 American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Lantz Financial LLC acquired 776 shares of American Express (AXP), valued at approximately $248,000, in the second quarter.
• Insider sales included Glenda G. Mcneal selling 50,000 shares for about $15.5 million, reflecting a significant drop in ownership.
• American Express reported a strong quarterly earnings beat, posting an EPS of $4.08, exceeding estimates by $0.22, along with a year-over-year revenue growth of 9.3%.

Lantz Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 776 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,454,667,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,025,562 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $4,849,777,000 after acquiring an additional 2,168,445 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in American Express by 27,625.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162,846 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $581,914,000 after acquiring an additional 2,155,045 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in American Express by 25.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,752,690 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $1,278,711,000 after buying an additional 965,221 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $187,337,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on AXP shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded American Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $348.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, DZ Bank cut American Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $315.20.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.86, for a total value of $37,034,041.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 92,810 shares in the company, valued at $30,614,306.60. This trade represents a 54.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total value of $15,475,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 269,996 shares of company stock worth $85,261,270 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP traded down $1.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $340.41. 8,629,534 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,638,350. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $314.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $293.53. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $344.36. The company has a market capitalization of $236.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.89, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%.The business had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.49 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.