Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas Boosts Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas boosted its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 8.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 944 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings in American Express were worth $256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 62.5% in the first 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 last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 42.2% in the second 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 last quarter. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP opened at $276.16 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.64 billion, a PE ratio of 22.75, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $277.11. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $256.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $242.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

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, 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 quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AXP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $241.42.

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.