Quilter Plc Cuts Stock Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Quilter Plc trimmed its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 101,131 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 3,940 shares during the period. Quilter Plc’s holdings in American Express were worth $23,417,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,112,747,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in American Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $433,709,000. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of American Express by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,399,494 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $449,521,000 after buying an additional 919,337 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 8.5% in 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 during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 969.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 602,726 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $112,910,000 after buying an additional 546,389 shares during the period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Express Stock Performance

American Express stock opened at $259.00 on Monday. The company 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. American Express has a 12 month low of $140.91 and a 12 month high of $261.75. 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’s 50-day moving average is $246.33 and its 200-day moving average is $235.60.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted 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 net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. 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. American Express’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Compass Point initiated 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. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America lowered American Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $263.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $230.70.

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.