American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Exchange Bank

Exchange Bank trimmed its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,035 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 102 shares during the quarter. Exchange Bank’s holdings in American Express were worth $823,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA grew its position in American Express by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 23,139 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $6,275,000 after buying an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 34.2% in the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 2,862 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $776,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 0.7% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 72,872 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $19,763,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the period. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the third quarter worth about $215,000. Finally, Retirement Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in American Express in the third quarter valued at about $374,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Compass Point initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $223.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $239.96.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $276.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $277.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $256.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $242.07.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.89 earnings per share. American Express’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.90%.

American Express 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.