American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Bought by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 17.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,178 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 627 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in American Express by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,923,399,000 after acquiring an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $590,940,000 after purchasing an additional 195,876 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of American Express by 22.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $485,525,000 after purchasing an additional 387,166 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $433,709,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in American Express by 14.2% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,798,742 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $408,494,000 after buying an additional 224,079 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $277.31 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $258.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $242.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $281.42.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company earned $2.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $226.00 to $248.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $242.33.

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.