Fifth Third Bancorp Boosts Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 188,741 shares of the payment services company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,299 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in American Express were worth $43,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $1,112,747,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter worth about $433,709,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,399,494 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $449,521,000 after buying an additional 919,337 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of American Express by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $713,202,000 after buying an additional 667,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake 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 valued at $1,923,399,000 after buying an additional 662,382 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on American Express from $221.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on American Express from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Compass Point started coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $230.70.

American Express Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of AXP traded down $6.78 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $246.30. 3,501,910 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,988,977. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $238.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.42. American Express has a 12-month low of $140.91 and a 12-month high of $256.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market cap of $177.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.60 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.