Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Acquires New Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 936 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. increased its position in American Express by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management purchased a new position in American Express during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Compass Point assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $244.58.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $271.95. The stock had a trading volume of 694,689 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,923,438. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $262.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.73. The company has a market capitalization of $195.61 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 52-week low of $141.02 and a 52-week high of $286.36. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

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.