American Express (NYSE:AXP) Shares Sold by Country Trust Bank

Country Trust Bank trimmed its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 119,173 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 20,082 shares during the quarter. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in American Express were worth $32,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in American Express in the first quarter worth approximately $433,709,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 924.2% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $197,149,000 after purchasing an additional 768,301 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the 1st 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 last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in American Express in the first quarter valued at about $114,990,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in American Express by 71.9% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $269,547,000 after buying an additional 486,755 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays upped their price target on American Express from $223.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America increased their target price on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $239.96.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of American Express stock opened at $269.00 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $276.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $254.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $240.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted 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. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.89 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

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.