E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Invests $200,000 in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 865 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.9% during the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 138,359 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $32,037,000 after purchasing an additional 5,248 shares during the period. Lumbard & Kellner LLC bought a new position in American Express during the 2nd quarter worth $201,000. L & S Advisors Inc raised its holdings in American Express by 97.9% in the 2nd quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 24,891 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $5,763,000 after acquiring an additional 12,315 shares in the last quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 57.1% during the 2nd quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 66,447 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $15,386,000 after acquiring an additional 24,160 shares during the period. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 52.2% in the second quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 8,504 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,915 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE AXP opened at $268.75 on Friday. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $270.10. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $193.31 billion, a PE ratio of 22.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $248.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $236.62.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.89 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that American Express will post 13.12 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target 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. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.78.

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.