ProVise Management Group LLC Sells 198 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

ProVise Management Group LLC lessened its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,970 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 198 shares during the period. ProVise Management Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings 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 valued at $1,923,399,000 after purchasing an additional 662,382 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in American Express by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $909,575,000 after acquiring an additional 496,153 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in American Express by 8.2% during the 1st 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 increased its position in American Express by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $485,525,000 after purchasing an additional 387,166 shares during the period. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $433,709,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Express Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $268.75 on Friday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $270.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.31 billion, a PE ratio of 22.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $248.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.62.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.89 EPS. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that American Express will post 13.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America boosted their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.78.

American Express 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.