CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 3,196 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

CENTRAL TRUST Co reduced its position in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 29,748 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 3,196 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in American Express were worth $8,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 119.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 39,497 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $8,993,000 after acquiring an additional 21,508 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in American Express by 102.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,329 shares in the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP bought a new stake in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,881,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of American Express by 2,196.4% in the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 8,244 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after buying an additional 7,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its position in shares of American Express by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 35,763 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $8,143,000 after buying an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered American Express from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $268.00 to $286.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on American Express from $250.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $263.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $244.58.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $271.22 on Thursday. American Express has a 12 month low of $141.02 and a 12 month high of $286.36. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $263.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $244.92. The firm has a market cap of $195.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.68 billion. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

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