Gunderson Capital Management Inc. Acquires 17,347 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Gunderson Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 87.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,087 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,347 shares during the quarter. American Express comprises approximately 4.3% of Gunderson Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Gunderson Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $10,058,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AXP. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in American Express by 2.7% during the third quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 0.4% during the second quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 10,384 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,404,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Davis Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 0.5% in the third quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC now owns 8,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,170,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC increased its stake in shares of American Express by 0.9% in the second quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Willner & Heller LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Willner & Heller LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. BTIG Research cut shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $239.96.

American Express Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:AXP traded up $1.63 on Wednesday, hitting $270.74. 440,204 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,918,661. The company has a market cap of $194.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $254.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $241.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $276.79.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted 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 return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.89 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that American Express will post 13.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

About American Express

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.