Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,607 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $6,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 119.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,993,000 after purchasing an additional 21,508 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 102.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,842,000 after buying an additional 6,329 shares during the period. Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter worth $1,881,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its holdings in American Express by 15.5% during the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,143,000 after acquiring an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 49.0% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 279,106 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $63,550,000 after acquiring an additional 91,760 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $268.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $271.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $249.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $236.97. 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 earnings results 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 analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.12 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Compass Point began coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $230.78.

American Express 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.