Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Purchases 237 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,465 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,423,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in American Express by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,923,399,000 after acquiring an additional 662,382 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of American Express by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $909,575,000 after purchasing an additional 496,153 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Express by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $713,202,000 after purchasing an additional 667,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of American Express by 8.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $590,940,000 after purchasing an additional 195,876 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Stock Performance

AXP stock traded up $2.72 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $259.81. 2,422,753 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,961,103. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $261.57. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $241.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $232.08. 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 has a market capitalization of $186.88 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The business had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.24 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on AXP shares. Compass Point started coverage on American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on American Express from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on American Express from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.70.

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.