Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC Buys 955 Shares of American Express Company $AXP

Key Points

• Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC increased its stake in American Express by 6.2%, purchasing an additional 955 shares, bringing its total holdings to 16,331 shares valued at approximately $5.2 million.
• Insider transactions revealed that Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster and CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold significant amounts of American Express shares, with Buckminster's sale representing a 15.98% decrease and Squeri's a 54.74% decrease in their positions.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" on American Express stock, with recent price targets ranging from $277 to $375, reflecting varying outlooks on the company's performance.

Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC increased its stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,331 shares of the payment services company's stock after purchasing an additional 955 shares during the quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $5,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in American Express by 5.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $183,037,000 after purchasing an additional 35,295 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 1.4% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 167,534 shares of the payment services company's stock worth $45,243,000 after buying an additional 2,259 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth approximately $509,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in American Express by 6.4% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,458 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $25,088,000 after buying an additional 5,693 shares during the period. Finally, Navis Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 368.7% during the first quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 2,791 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other American Express news, Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster sold 23,505 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.37, for a total transaction of $7,671,326.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 123,613 shares in the company, valued at $40,343,574.81. This trade represents a 15.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 112,272 shares of the company's 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 269,996 shares of company stock valued at $85,261,270. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. BTIG Research set a $277.00 price objective on American Express and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Barclays lifted their price objective on American Express from $249.00 to $297.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of American Express from $348.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $315.20.

American Express Trading Up 0.6%

AXP stock opened at $342.07 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. American Express Company has a 1-year low of $220.43 and a 1-year high of $349.19. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $317.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $296.32. The company has a market capitalization of $238.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.28.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 10th. American Express's dividend payout ratio is 23.02%.

American Express 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.