Eastern Bank Purchases 169,688 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Eastern Bank lifted its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 221.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 246,477 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 169,688 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for about 1.2% of Eastern Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Eastern Bank’s holdings in American Express were worth $66,845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 119.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,993,000 after acquiring an additional 21,508 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in American Express by 102.9% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,881,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its position in American Express by 2,196.4% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after buying an additional 7,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 15.5% during 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 buying an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on AXP. Compass Point began coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $244.58.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock traded up $1.00 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $271.74. 1,220,263 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,927,623. The business has a fifty day moving average of $261.94 and a 200 day moving average of $244.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The company has a market capitalization of $195.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $286.36.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.