American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Purchased by AMG National Trust Bank

AMG National Trust Bank increased its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 27.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,307 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,223 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank’s holdings in American Express were worth $7,712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in American Express by 8.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,923,399,000 after acquiring an additional 662,382 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $909,575,000 after buying an additional 496,153 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $713,202,000 after buying an additional 667,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $590,940,000 after buying an additional 195,876 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Barclays increased their price target on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.70.

American Express Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE AXP traded up $3.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $251.30. 1,868,199 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,975,919. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $256.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $239.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.60 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. American Express’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.