Profit Investment Management LLC Sells 397 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Profit Investment Management LLC lessened its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,280 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 397 shares during the period. Profit Investment Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Barden Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 131.3% during the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 23,360 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $4,376,000 after buying an additional 13,260 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its position in shares of American Express by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 135,701 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $25,422,000 after purchasing an additional 8,019 shares during the last quarter. Winslow Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in American Express by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Winslow Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,135 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $6,770,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $536,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in American Express in the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AXP. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday. HSBC downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $239.96.

American Express Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of AXP traded up $4.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $274.75. 239,284 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,909,023. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $255.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $241.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $276.79.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The business had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.89 earnings per share. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 20.90%.

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.