Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Sells 4,585 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lowered its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 158,962 shares of the payment services company's stock after selling 4,585 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC's holdings in American Express were worth $47,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in American Express in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded American Express from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $295.05.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In related news, Director Michael J. Angelakis acquired 3,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $269.89 per share, for a total transaction of $998,593.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,593. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ravikumar Radhakrishnan sold 9,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.17, for a total value of $3,027,327.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,308,795. This represents a 41.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP traded up $4.20 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $270.61. 1,021,668 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,825,771. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business's fifty day moving average price is $265.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $286.97. The company has a market cap of $189.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.16. American Express has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 32.65%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. This is a positive change from American Express's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express's payout ratio is 22.91%.

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.