Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Sells 277 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. cut its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,461 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 277 shares during the quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,751,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in American Express during the first quarter valued at $433,709,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its position in American Express by 924.2% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 851,431 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $197,149,000 after buying an additional 768,301 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in American Express by 8.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,447,441 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,923,399,000 after buying an additional 662,382 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of American Express during the first quarter worth about $114,990,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of American Express by 71.9% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,098 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $269,547,000 after purchasing an additional 486,755 shares in the last quarter. 84.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Hsbc Global Res lowered American Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on American Express from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on American Express from $248.00 to $252.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $244.58.

American Express Stock Up 0.6 %

American Express stock opened at $272.31 on Wednesday. American Express has a 1-year low of $140.91 and a 1-year high of $286.36. 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 $195.87 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $262.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.73.

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

American Express Announces Dividend

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

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.