Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Trims Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,817,308 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 126,354 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.39% of American Express worth $652,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $1,923,399,000 after buying an additional 662,382 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in American Express by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $909,575,000 after buying an additional 496,153 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of American Express by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $590,940,000 after purchasing an additional 195,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in American Express by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,129,175 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $485,525,000 after purchasing an additional 387,166 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Compass Point assumed coverage on American Express in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $263.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.70.

American Express Price Performance

American Express stock opened at $259.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $186.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $246.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $235.60. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $261.75.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.12 earnings per share for the current year.

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.