Blue Trust Inc. Boosts Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 46.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,897 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 2,502 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in American Express by 58.7% during the 3rd quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,922 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $521,000 after acquiring an additional 711 shares during the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,235 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $620,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of American Express by 5.9% during the third quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 34,724 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $9,417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,937 shares during the last quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in American Express in the third quarter worth about $924,000. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in American Express by 10.3% in the third quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,074 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. BTIG Research lowered shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Compass Point started coverage on American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $242.33.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $276.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $286.36. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $261.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $243.90. The company has a market capitalization of $199.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm 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 yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.