Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Purchases 23,487 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,220,422 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,487 shares during the quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $282,589,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted 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 worth $8,993,000 after purchasing an additional 21,508 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 102.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after acquiring an additional 6,329 shares in the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,881,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted 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 worth $8,143,000 after acquiring an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its position in 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 worth $63,550,000 after purchasing an additional 91,760 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AXP. Barclays lifted their target price on American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Citigroup assumed coverage on American Express in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.78.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $268.99 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $249.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $237.11. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $271.49. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $193.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.60 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.12 earnings per share for the current year.

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.