MFA Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 8,639.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,559 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,278 shares during the quarter. American Express comprises approximately 1.5% of MFA Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $6,660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AXP. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in American Express by 46.3% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 496 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 109.0% during the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,873 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $882,000 after buying an additional 2,020 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 286 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 37.2% in the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,943 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in American Express by 7.7% during the first quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,487 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $244.58.

American Express Stock Down 0.4 %

AXP opened at $271.22 on Thursday. American Express has a 1 year low of $141.02 and a 1 year high of $286.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $263.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $244.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $195.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21.

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

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.