Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,676 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 259 shares during the quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $27,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 119.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,993,000 after buying an additional 21,508 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of American Express by 102.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after buying an additional 6,329 shares in the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at $1,881,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased its position in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% in the second quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after buying an additional 7,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its position in American Express by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,143,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $276.79 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $261.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $243.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.10 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. American Express has a one year low of $140.91 and a one year high of $286.36.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 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 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend 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%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Hsbc Global Res cut American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on American Express from $223.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $242.33.

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.