AQR Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 31.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,198 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,937 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $25,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 0.4% during the second quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 10,384 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,404,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 0.9% during the second quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Willner & Heller LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 4.1% during the second quarter. Willner & Heller LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 18.9% during the second quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 271 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,112 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of a number of research reports. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. 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 note on Tuesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on American Express from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.78.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $271.06 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $251.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $238.83. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $272.68.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $16.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.89 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that American Express will post 13.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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

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.