Plimoth Trust Co. LLC Cuts Position in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Plimoth Trust Co. LLC cut its stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 3.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,554 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 377 shares during the period. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $2,591,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in American Express in the 1st quarter worth $38,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 165 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management acquired a new stake in American Express in the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AXP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of American Express from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on American Express from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on American Express from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $244.58.

American Express Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of AXP traded down $6.05 during trading on Monday, reaching $270.74. 3,906,740 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,935,130. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $261.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $244.02. 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 has a twelve month low of $140.91 and a twelve month high of $286.36. The stock has a market cap of $194.74 billion, a PE ratio of 22.23, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $16.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.68 billion. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is presently 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.