Saxon Interests Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Saxon Interests Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 11.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the period. Saxon Interests Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter worth about $433,709,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its stake in American Express by 924.2% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $197,149,000 after buying an additional 768,301 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in American Express by 8.5% in 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 buying an additional 662,382 shares during the period. M&G Plc bought a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $114,990,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 71.9% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $269,547,000 after acquiring an additional 486,755 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday. BTIG Research lowered American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $239.96.

American Express Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:AXP traded up $1.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $270.44. The stock had a trading volume of 380,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,918,247. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $254.76 and a 200 day moving average of $241.19. The company has a market capitalization of $194.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $276.79.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its 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. The firm 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%. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.13 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend 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.