Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 37 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,249 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 37 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,695,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth $38,000. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management acquired a new stake in American Express during the 2nd quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Compass Point initiated coverage on American Express in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Barclays increased their target price on American Express from $223.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $242.33.

American Express Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $276.79 on Monday. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $286.36. 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 stock has a market cap of $199.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $261.27 and its 200-day moving average is $244.02.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is presently 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.