GFG Capital LLC Increases Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

GFG Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,351 shares of the payment services company’s stock after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. GFG Capital LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,807,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Express by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC increased its position in American Express by 0.4% during the second quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 10,384 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,404,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its stake in shares of American Express by 3.5% in the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 1,227 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $333,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Davis Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in American Express by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC now owns 8,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,170,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AXP shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Compass Point initiated coverage on American Express in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. BTIG Research downgraded shares of American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $244.58.

American Express Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $270.74 on Tuesday. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $286.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $261.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $244.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The business had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 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.