LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Sells 265 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC cut its stake in shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,649 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 265 shares during the quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Petros Family Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Petros Family Wealth LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Embree Financial Group boosted its position in American Express by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 3,167 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $852,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Lazari Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,058 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 5,324 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Finally, AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,857 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,997,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of American Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of American Express from $367.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of American Express from $320.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.05.

Insider Activity at American Express

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total transaction of $2,603,475.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,590,251. This represents a 50.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total transaction of $799,008.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This trade represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

American Express Price Performance

AXP opened at $299.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $209.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $284.24 and a 200 day moving average of $288.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. American Express Company has a fifty-two week low of $220.43 and a fifty-two week high of $326.28.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The payment services company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.04 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 32.48%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 22.91%.

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.