Trust Point Inc. Trims Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Trust Point Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,647 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 66 shares during the quarter. Trust Point Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,531,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of American Express by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $590,940,000 after purchasing an additional 195,876 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in American Express by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $485,525,000 after acquiring an additional 387,166 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $433,709,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in American Express by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,798,742 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $408,494,000 after acquiring an additional 224,079 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on AXP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. Evercore ISI increased 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. Bank of America increased their target price on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $242.33.

American Express Stock Down 4.4 %

NYSE AXP traded down $12.65 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $273.13. 3,221,747 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,907,238. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $286.36. The firm has a market cap of $196.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.54, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. 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 50 day moving average of $260.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $243.43.

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 $3.26 by $0.23. The firm 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend 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.