Barden Capital Management Inc. Sells 397 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Barden Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,659 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 397 shares during the period. Barden Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter worth $38,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. increased its holdings in American Express by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AXP. HSBC cut American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. BTIG Research downgraded 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $242.33.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AXP opened at $276.79 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $199.10 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. 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 twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $286.36. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $261.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $244.02.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

About American Express

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.