Holderness Investments Co. Increases Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Holderness Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,492 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Holderness Investments Co.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its position in American Express by 119.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,993,000 after acquiring an additional 21,508 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 102.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,329 shares during the period. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,881,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its holdings in American Express by 15.5% during the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,143,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 49.0% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 279,106 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $63,550,000 after purchasing an additional 91,760 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Compass Point assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.78.

American Express Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $268.99 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $249.10 and its 200 day moving average is $237.11. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $271.49. 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 company has a market cap of $193.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.21.

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

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.