Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $474.39 Million Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Lazard Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,598,397 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 82,064 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.23% of American Express worth $474,386,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AXP. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 317 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of American Express by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 120,663 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $35,812,000 after buying an additional 6,255 shares during the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,108 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 13,438 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $3,988,000 after acquiring an additional 2,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in American Express by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 81,953 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $24,323,000 after acquiring an additional 3,672 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $284.43 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $199.27 billion, a PE ratio of 20.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $263.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $287.22. American Express has a 52-week low of $220.43 and a 52-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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.17. American Express had a return on equity of 32.65% and a net margin of 15.36%. The firm had revenue of $16.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. This is an increase from American Express’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on American Express from $340.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $283.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. BTIG Research reduced their target price on shares of American Express from $272.00 to $240.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Argus downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. One investment 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.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $295.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 9,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.50, for a total value of $2,603,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 3,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.66, for a total value of $799,008.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,889,822.54. This represents a 21.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.