Abacus Planning Group Inc. Lowers Stake in American Express (NYSE:AXP)

Abacus Planning Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of American Express (NYSE:AXP) by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 977 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 266 shares during the quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in American Express were worth $226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in American Express by 8.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of American Express in the fourth quarter worth $1,112,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $909,575,000 after buying an additional 496,153 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of American Express by 21.1% in 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 buying an additional 667,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $590,940,000 after buying an additional 195,876 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

American Express Trading Down 0.5 %

AXP stock opened at $258.65 on Friday. 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 $261.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $242.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $232.59.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The payment services company reported $3.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.23. American Express had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The business had revenue of $16.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that American Express will post 13.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $265.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of American Express in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.