Jackson Wealth Management LLC Buys New Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Jackson Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,405 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,279,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $433,709,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express by 26,783.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 909,737 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,467,210,000 after purchasing an additional 906,353 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in shares of American Express by 924.2% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $197,149,000 after purchasing an additional 768,301 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of American Express by 8.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,923,399,000 after purchasing an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc bought a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $114,990,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $270.49. 683,001 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,918,744. The firm has a market cap of $194.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $263.16 and a 200 day moving average of $244.92. American Express has a 12 month low of $141.02 and a 12 month high of $286.36.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. American Express’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 23.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AXP. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Compass Point initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $244.58.

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.