American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stake Boosted by Cwm LLC

Cwm LLC raised its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 8.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 22,983 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 1,857 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $6,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 62.5% during the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $239.96.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $276.16 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $256.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $242.07. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $277.11. The firm has a market cap of $196.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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