Lincoln Capital LLC Purchases 75 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Lincoln Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,733 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. American Express comprises 0.7% of Lincoln Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Lincoln Capital LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,948,000 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. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of American Express by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,320,053 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $5,281,753,000 after acquiring an additional 507,042 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 118,198.3% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,732,068 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,028,913,000 after buying an additional 13,720,460 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in American Express by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,503,902 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,847,452,000 after buying an additional 35,760 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,817,376 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,878,460,000 after buying an additional 214,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in American Express by 0.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,953,460 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,037,387,000 after buying an additional 41,443 shares during the last quarter. 83.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on AXP. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of American Express from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 18th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt began coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $235.00 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $189.00.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 7,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.65, for a total value of $1,431,455.85. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,522,816.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen J. Squeri sold 69,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $14,774,215.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 122,158 shares in the company, valued at $26,022,097.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 172,047 shares of company stock valued at $36,528,388. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE:AXP traded up $2.39 on Monday, reaching $220.85. 1,892,994 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,286,800. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market cap of $159.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.23. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $224.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $205.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.47.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The payment services company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by ($0.02). American Express had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 13.84%. The business had revenue of $15.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 21.41%.

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.