American Express (NYSE:AXP) is Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s 5th Largest Position

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI lifted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 130,719 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the quarter. American Express accounts for about 2.8% of Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in American Express were worth $35,451,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $590,940,000 after purchasing an additional 195,876 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of American Express by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $485,525,000 after purchasing an additional 387,166 shares during the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth $433,709,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in American Express by 14.2% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,798,742 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $408,494,000 after buying an additional 224,079 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. Barclays lifted their price target on American Express from $223.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. BTIG Research downgraded American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Compass Point assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $242.33.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $276.79 on Friday. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $286.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $261.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $243.90.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.