Mather Group LLC. Sells 2,963 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Mather Group LLC. lessened its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 33.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,930 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 2,963 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,608,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 62.5% in the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. grew its holdings in American Express by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AXP. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of American Express from $223.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $239.96.

American Express Stock Down 1.7 %

American Express stock opened at $269.00 on Wednesday. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $276.79. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $254.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $240.88. The stock has a market cap of $193.49 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $16.33 billion during 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%. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.89 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that American Express will post 13.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. American Express’s payout ratio is currently 23.06%.

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.