Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. reduced its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,156 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 1,727 shares during the period. American Express accounts for about 1.3% of Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 10,384 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,404,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 1,227 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Davis Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Express by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC now owns 8,011 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $2,170,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AXP shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $244.58.

American Express Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of American Express stock traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $271.18. 767,633 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,925,404. American Express has a 1 year low of $140.91 and a 1 year high of $286.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $261.94 and its 200 day moving average is $244.38. 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 firm has a market cap of $195.06 billion, a PE ratio of 22.30, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

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.