M&G Plc Trims Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

M&G Plc lessened its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 490,862 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 13,478 shares during the quarter. M&G Plc owned about 0.07% of American Express worth $113,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in American Express by 3.9% in the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 9,671 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,308,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in American Express by 5.2% in the second quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 2,200 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. raised its position in American Express by 13.2% in the second quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 41,384 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $9,582,000 after purchasing an additional 4,833 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group purchased a new stake in American Express in the second quarter valued at approximately $319,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in American Express by 3.6% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,562 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,909,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on American Express from $247.00 to $263.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of American Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.70.

American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP stock traded up $1.94 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $238.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,913,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,015,947. The business has a fifty day moving average of $236.27 and a 200-day moving average of $228.49. The stock has a market cap of $171.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.21. American Express has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $256.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.60 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.24 EPS for the current year.

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.