Whittier Trust Co. Has $18.68 Million Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Whittier Trust Co. lessened its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 68,869 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,007 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in American Express were worth $18,677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth $433,709,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake 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 worth $197,149,000 after purchasing an additional 768,301 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew 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 purchasing an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth $114,990,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of American Express by 71.9% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $269,547,000 after purchasing an additional 486,755 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP traded down $6.10 during trading on Monday, reaching $270.69. The stock had a trading volume of 2,847,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,929,327. The company has a market capitalization of $194.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.23, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $286.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $261.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $244.02.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. 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 1.03%. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 23.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AXP. Evercore ISI increased their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. HSBC cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $244.58.

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.