829 Shares in American Express (NYSE:AXP) Bought by Wallington Asset Management LLC

Wallington Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 829 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% during 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 in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 195,876 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in American Express by 22.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $485,525,000 after buying an additional 387,166 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in American Express during the first quarter valued at about $433,709,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in American Express by 14.2% during 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 in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE AXP opened at $271.22 on Thursday. 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 is $263.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.92. The company has a market capitalization of $195.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a 1-year low of $141.02 and a 1-year high of $286.36.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. 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 (DPR) is currently 23.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $244.58.

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.