Garde Capital Inc. Sells 175 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Garde Capital Inc. cut its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,838 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,120,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of 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 period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $590,940,000 after acquiring an additional 195,876 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $485,525,000 after acquiring an additional 387,166 shares during the period. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $433,709,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,798,742 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $408,494,000 after acquiring an additional 224,079 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Citigroup began coverage on American Express in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on American Express from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.78.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $271.06 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $194.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $251.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $238.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $272.68.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.60 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.89 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that American Express will post 13.13 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

American Express Company 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.