American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Woodstock Corp

Woodstock Corp trimmed its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,574 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. Woodstock Corp’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake 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 worth $1,923,399,000 after buying an additional 662,382 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in American Express by 8.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $590,940,000 after acquiring an additional 195,876 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in American Express by 22.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $485,525,000 after acquiring an additional 387,166 shares during the period. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth $433,709,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of American Express by 14.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 224,079 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $276.16 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.64 billion, a PE ratio of 22.75, a P/E/G 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $256.44 and a 200-day moving average of $242.17. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $277.11.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. 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 $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.60 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.14 EPS 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 $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. HSBC downgraded American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on American Express from $223.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $241.42.

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.