Private Advisor Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,723 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $15,112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American Express by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 2.5% in the third quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its position in American Express by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 1,227 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Davis Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC now owns 8,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,170,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. TD Cowen raised their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $244.58.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $271.22 on Thursday. American Express has a one year low of $141.02 and a one year high of $286.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $263.16 and a 200 day moving average of $244.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $195.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 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.