American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Perpetual Ltd

Perpetual Ltd decreased its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 89.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 944 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 8,422 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in American Express were worth $256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth $433,709,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its position in 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 valued at $197,149,000 after acquiring an additional 768,301 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in 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 valued at $1,923,399,000 after acquiring an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in American Express in the first quarter valued at $114,990,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in 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 valued at $269,547,000 after acquiring an additional 486,755 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXP has been the subject of a number of research reports. BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Four 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 MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $239.96.

American Express Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of AXP opened at $276.16 on Friday. 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 moving average is $256.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $242.07. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $277.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21.

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, topping 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 company had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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

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.