Stokes Capital Advisors LLC Has $8.99 Million Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Stokes Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,158 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 45 shares during the quarter. American Express makes up approximately 2.3% of Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $8,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AXP. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $366,000. Waterloo Capital L.P. bought a new position in American Express during the fourth quarter worth about $231,000. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its holdings in American Express by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 54,653 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $10,239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Treasury Department grew its position in shares of American Express by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 334,851 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $62,731,000 after purchasing an additional 26,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of American Express by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 28,287 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $5,299,000 after purchasing an additional 6,987 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of AXP traded down $2.10 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $273.87. The stock had a trading volume of 3,286,634 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,929,347. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $253.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $240.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $276.79.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.60 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Compass Point assumed coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday. Barclays upped their target price on American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $237.87.

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.