Carnegie Investment Counsel Raises Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 34.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,862 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in American Express were worth $776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 62.5% in the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. HSBC lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $242.33.

American Express Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:AXP opened at $276.79 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $199.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.80, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $277.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $257.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $242.52.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.60 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.