American Express (NYSE:AXP) Stock Holdings Raised by Kowal Investment Group LLC

Kowal Investment Group LLC increased its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 16.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,644 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in American Express by 3.7% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,666 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $994,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. grew its position in shares of American Express by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 98,700 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $26,767,000 after buying an additional 16,000 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC raised its stake in American Express by 0.7% during the third quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 44,857 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $12,165,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its holdings in American Express by 1.4% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 9,659 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,620,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in American Express by 9.7% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 39,080 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $10,598,000 after acquiring an additional 3,449 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. HSBC downgraded shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $265.00 to $270.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $242.33.

American Express Stock Up 1.6 %

AXP stock opened at $281.67 on Thursday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $259.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $243.14. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $281.87. The company has a market cap of $202.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The company had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date 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.