American Express (NYSE:AXP) Short Interest Update

American Express (NYSE:AXP) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 8,840,000 shares, a drop of 5.2% from the September 15th total of 9,320,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,750,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Express by 62.5% during the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. boosted its position in American Express by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, BNP Paribas acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $223.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $242.33.

American Express Price Performance

AXP stock opened at $281.67 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $281.87. The firm has a market cap of $202.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $259.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $243.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The company had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business 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 is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 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.