Brookstone Capital Management Acquires 9,483 Shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 71,181 shares of the payment services company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,483 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in American Express were worth $17,792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised 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 valued at $1,923,399,000 after purchasing an additional 662,382 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of American Express during the fourth quarter valued at $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in American Express by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 4,855,211 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $909,575,000 after purchasing an additional 496,153 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of American Express by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,839,276 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $713,202,000 after acquiring an additional 667,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in American Express by 8.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,595,370 shares of the payment services company’s stock valued at $590,940,000 after acquiring an additional 195,876 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE AXP traded up $2.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $251.71. 2,149,718 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,002,593. The firm has a market cap of $181.06 billion, a PE ratio of 20.73, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. American Express has a 52-week low of $140.91 and a 52-week high of $256.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $237.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $229.35.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 15.53%. The firm had revenue of $16.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.89 EPS. American Express’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AXP. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of American Express from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on American Express from $240.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.70.

American Express Company 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.