Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Purchases 915 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,829 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 915 shares during the quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in American Express were worth $5,106,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth about $433,709,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in 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 valued at $197,149,000 after purchasing an additional 768,301 shares in the last quarter. 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 worth $1,923,399,000 after purchasing an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $114,990,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 71.9% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $269,547,000 after buying an additional 486,755 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $244.58.

American Express Stock Down 0.1 %

AXP stock opened at $272.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $262.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $244.73. American Express has a 12 month low of $141.02 and a 12 month 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

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