Legacy Financial Strategies LLC Acquires 40 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

by · The Markets Daily

Legacy Financial Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,632 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AXP. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in American Express by 119.6% in 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 raised its position in 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 during the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in American Express during the 1st quarter worth $1,881,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its position in 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 valued at $1,909,000 after buying an additional 7,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its stake in shares of American Express by 15.5% in the 1st 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 period. 84.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. BTIG Research cut American Express from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of American Express from $226.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $242.33.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on AXP

American Express Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of American Express stock traded down $8.99 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $276.79. 7,884,358 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,930,270. The stock has a market cap of $199.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day moving average of $261.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $243.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $140.91 and a fifty-two week high of $286.36.

American Express (NYSE:AXP – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The payment services company reported $3.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $16.64 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express will post 13.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. American Express’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

American Express Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Recommended Stories

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AXP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for American Express (NYSE:AXP – Free Report).