Bleakley Financial Group LLC Has $3.37 Million Holdings in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,409 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $3,365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in American Express by 62.5% during the 1st quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth $38,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. increased its stake in American Express by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in American Express during the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of American Express in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on AXP shares. Bank of America increased their price target on American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Compass Point assumed coverage on shares of American Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $242.33.

American Express Price Performance

NYSE:AXP opened at $276.82 on Friday. American Express has a 52 week low of $140.91 and a 52 week high of $286.36. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $261.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $243.78. The firm has a market cap of $199.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.06%.

American Express 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.