American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Position Raised by Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD.

Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. lifted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,605 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 143 shares during the quarter. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD.’s holdings in American Express were worth $435,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $433,709,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its position in shares of American Express by 924.2% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $197,149,000 after purchasing an additional 768,301 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 8.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,923,399,000 after buying an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth $114,990,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in American Express by 71.9% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $269,547,000 after buying an additional 486,755 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AXP. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on American Express from $226.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $242.33.

American Express Stock Down 3.1 %

AXP opened at $276.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $199.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $261.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $243.90. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $286.36.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

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.