Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Makes New Investment in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,936 shares of the payment services company’s stock, valued at approximately $525,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in American Express by 119.6% in 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 period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 102.9% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in American Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,881,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group increased 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 buying an additional 7,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its stake in American Express by 15.5% during the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,143,000 after buying an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:AXP opened at $271.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, 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 current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $263.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $244.92. American Express has a one year low of $141.02 and a one year high of $286.36.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. American Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $244.58.

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.