Ritholtz Wealth Management Has $1.88 Million Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lowered its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,125 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 288 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 0.4% in the second quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 10,384 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,404,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in American Express by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 4,315 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $983,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.9% in the second quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Willner & Heller LLC raised its position in shares of American Express by 4.1% in the second quarter. Willner & Heller LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 18.9% during the second quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 271 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AXP. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Bank of America cut shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $263.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.70.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $258.65 on Monday. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $261.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day moving average is $242.42 and its 200 day moving average is $232.90. 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 (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The business had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.12 earnings per share for the current year.

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.