Leo Wealth LLC Decreases Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Leo Wealth LLC reduced its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,251 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 109 shares during the quarter. Leo Wealth LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth about $433,709,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its holdings in American Express by 924.2% during the 2nd 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 boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 8.5% during 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 buying an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth approximately $114,990,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased 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 buying an additional 486,755 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on AXP. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Compass Point initiated coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $244.58.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $272.31 on Wednesday. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $286.36. The company has a market cap of $195.87 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $262.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $244.73. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

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.