Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Sells 2,532 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. cut its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 7.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 29,873 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 2,532 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in American Express were worth $8,102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AXP. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of American Express by 119.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,993,000 after purchasing an additional 21,508 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in American Express by 102.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,329 shares during the period. Sciencast Management LP bought a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter worth about $1,881,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group lifted its position in American Express by 2,196.4% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 7,885 shares during the period. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,143,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AXP shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. BTIG Research lowered 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. Hsbc Global Res downgraded American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $242.33.

American Express Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of AXP stock opened at $276.79 on Friday. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $286.36. The stock has a market cap of $199.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $261.27 and its 200-day moving average is $243.90. 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 (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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is 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.