Gryphon Financial Partners LLC Purchases 135 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 12.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,224 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in 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 boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 102.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,842,000 after buying an additional 6,329 shares during the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,881,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its position in shares of American Express by 15.5% in the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,143,000 after acquiring an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 49.0% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 279,106 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $63,550,000 after acquiring an additional 91,760 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.70.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $245.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $176.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $245.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $234.79. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $261.75.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly 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. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The company had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.89 earnings per share. American Express’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.12 EPS for the current fiscal 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.