Edge Capital Group LLC Lowers Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Edge Capital Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,373 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 109 shares during the period. Edge Capital Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the first 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 period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 11.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 496,153 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 195,876 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 22.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $485,525,000 after purchasing an additional 387,166 shares during the period. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth $433,709,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AXP. Barclays increased their price target on American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America increased their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on American Express from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on American Express from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.78.

American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $268.99 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $271.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $249.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $237.24.

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

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.